Wilhelm Thöny (1888 - 1949)

Wilhelm Thöny

Wilhelm Thöny was an Austrian artist, graphic designer and illustrator.

Thöny studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, first working as a graphic designer and illustrator for several publishing houses. He began showing his work in exhibitions in 1910 and became one of the founders of the New Secession in Munich. In 1923, together with the artists Alfred Wickenburg and Fritz Silberbauer, Wilhelm Thöny founded the Graz Secession and was appointed its first president. He also worked for many publications. It was a successful period for the artist: he was represented in numerous exhibitions and sold well. He was awarded the honorary title of professor.

In 1938, due to the tense situation in Europe, Thöny and his wife moved to New York, where the artist worked successfully until a warehouse fire in 1948, which destroyed about a thousand of his works. He did not recover from this blow and died a year later. Wilhelm Thöny is now considered one of Austria's greatest modernists. Only a fraction of his vast oeuvre, including battle scenes from World War I and large-scale views of New York City, remains, but his work can be seen in major European and American museums.