Siegfried L. Kratochwil is recognized as one of the best Austrian naïve painters. He was born in 1916 in Karlstift (Lower Austria). He attended school in Vienna. "Even as a child, nothing meant more to me than nature and the outdoors." After enrolling in a trade school he became a technician and tool maker. Due to hardship, he was forced to try his hand at various professions. He married in 1939. His ill health kept him from military duty.

 

"Our daughter Erika was born in 1941. During her school years I would help her with drawing and painting. Painting simply made me happy. The beauty about painting is that nobody can hinder me from interpreting life the way I see it. In the fifties I became a Goldsmith because this profession suddenly intrigued me. It was here that I was driven to more precision in my paintings. They call me a dreamer. But who’s bothered if I 'dream.' At least the result of my dreams are paintings which hang in famous museums and private collections, for which I am very thankful."

 

Siegfried L. Kratochwil prefers to paint Viennese motifs, for each of which he writes a poem. They named him, "The painter with the dreaming heart." It is because of this trait, that he has many admirers around the world.

 

—Rolf Italiaander: 1981 A. Korsch Verlag, München-Wien