Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980)
Three autograph letters signed with initials ('OK') to the architect Egon Riss (1901-1964), Cornwall and n.p., [c.1939]
In German. Seven pages, various sizes (178 x 114mm to 229 x 173mm). Provenance: Sotheby's, 12 & 13 May 1981, lot 17.

Oskar Kokoschka discusses the war with his friend and fellow refugee to the UK, the architect and designer Egon Riss, whom he met through the Bauhaus. Kokoschka thanks Riss for forwarding a message from his brother; it is so difficult to send letters now that war has been declared, he writes. He praises Stalin’s efforts against Nazi Germany while berating Chamberlain, who he says has treated Hitler with velvet gloves (‘Samthandschuhen’). He asks about acquiring a visa and requests that Riss come to collect the translation of his play when it is finished.