Title: The Bride of the Wind
Description: The Bride of the Wind (Die Windsbraut) (or The Tempest) is a 1913-1914 oil on canvas painting by Oskar Kokoschka. It is housed in the Kunstmuseum Basel. Kokoschka's best known work, it is an allegorical picture featuring a self-portrait by the artist, lying alongside his lover Alma Mahler. Kokoschka met Mahler, then recently widowed from Gustav Mahler, in 1912. A passionate romance ensued, with the artist producing numerous drawings and paintings of Mahler. The painting depicts Mahler in a peaceful sleep beside Kokoschka, who is awake and stares into space. The couple's break-up in 1914 had a profound effect on Kokoschka, whose expressive brushwork grew more turbulent. When Kokoschka painted the picture, poet Georg Trakl visited him almost daily and extolled the painting in his poem Die Nacht (The Night).
Author(s): Oskar Kokoschka