Die träumenden Knaben (The Dreaming Boys)

This was intended by Kokoschka to be a children's book, but the powerful Expressionist poem of sexual longing and suggestive images of dense forests, frolicking animals, and undulating waters teeming with jumping red fish are not typical children's fare. Although the flat bright colors and sharp black outlines are in keeping with the ornamental style then favored in Vienna, Kokoschka's awkward, gangly figures show him beginning to move towards a more emotionally expressive style and more provocative content. This is the first of many books he wrote and illustrated.

Oskar Kokoschka made major contributions to both Viennese and German Expressionist art during the early decades of the twentieth c...