Josef Bramer - vendere e comprare opere
11 July 1948, Vienna (Austria)
Josef Bramer is an Austrian painter, best known for his landscapes and portraits in which he depicts himself as the Austrian equivalent of the hand puppet Punch, Kasper.
Born in 1948 in Vienna, Bramer studied at both the Higher Federal Institute for Graphic Learning and Research and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he was a graduate of Rudolf Hausner’s master class. His fellow students at the time included Manfred Deix and Gottfried Helnwein. After completing his studies, Bramer began to exhibit his artwork across Europe. He found the inspiration for his landscapes from the Austrian Mostviertel region, with which he has been connected since his youth, and from the island of Corfu, which has been his preferred holiday destination for many years now. Of particular personal importance for the artist, who works on several paintings simultaneously at this home studio, are family portraits created from children’s drawings.
In 1996, at his initiative, a collaborative etching involving 23 other Austrian artists, the so-called Blatt 24, was presented at the Albertina in Vienna. In 2004, the Austrian postal service issued a special stamp showing Bramer’s Winter Scene with Kasper. His stylised self-portraits, in which he depicts himself as a fool in a colourful costume, appear as a recurring motif throughout his work, lending it great recognition value.
In 2013, the artist received the Golden Order of Merit for Services to the Federal State of Lower Austria. Among others, his most important productions include the 12-part work Jahr (eng. “Year”), which Bramer presented in 2015 at the Town Hall of Scheibbs (Lower Austria) as part of an exhibition vernissage.
Works by Bramer have been a regular feature of Dorotheum auctions for many years. On 23 March 2017, his 2006 painting Der Betrachter (eng. “The Observer”) was bought for €6,875.