Richard Driller, Brosch Diller, 1926
Collection Nordico Stadtmuseum Linz
The artist and painter Klemens Brosch, born in Linz in 1894, here painted by Richard Diller, was in recovery from his morphine addiction in 1924 and experiencing withdrawal. This addiction originated from a lung condition during his war service. The artist, who had trained at the Vienna Academy and was barely 30 years old, was admitted to the provincial mental hospital in Niedernhart-Linz at the time. In the psychiatric ward he would play the piano by ear without notes and write poetry to get the suffering and pain off his chest. Even in his school days, Brosch was considered a child prodigy. In his paintings he captured themes such as transience, human suffering and subtle natural phenomena with surreal imagery and meticulous strokes. The experiences of the First World War threw the sensitive artist off-course: on December 17th 1926 Brosch committed suicide on a grave in the Pöstlingberg cemetery. His wife, Johanna Springer, later left his estate to the Nordico in exchange for an annuity.