Philipp Schöpke

1921 to 1998, Austria

Philipp Schöpke was born in Erlach. He worked as a construction assistant. After he was declared unfit to serve during the Second World War, he was admitted to the psychiatric clinic in Gugging.

He worked in a foundry and on road construction before his manic-depressive disorder resulted in permanent hospitalisation in 1956. Leo Navratil initially encouraged him to draw, but then he continued drawing on his own initiative, sometimes alone. His subjects are people and animals; he usually also depicts the body’s internal organs and genitals so that his figures seem nearly transparent. They are very delicate overall and seem to be composed of trembling lines. From 1981, he lived and worked in the House of Artists.

His work can be found in the collection of Gerhard and Karin Dammann, Switzerland, among others. As of 2021, Philipp Schöpke has also been represented in the 921 works of the “Donation d'Art Brut de Bruno Decharme” at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Selected works