Ernst Huber (1895-1960)

Ernst Huber was born in Vienna 1895. He completed an apprenticeship as a typesetter in a print shop for book- and art prints as well as lithography, called Rollinger. After his education he worked in this shop as a lithographer. At the same time Huber visited the evening class for ornamental drawing at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna (School for Arts and Crafts). After the First World War, in which he served in the army, Huber became an artistic employee at the print shop Rollinger. He designed a lot of book and box covers as well as coloured paper and endpaper.

As a painter he stayed an autodidact. But his first exhibition in 1919 at the Kunstgemeinschaft was a great success and encouraged him to proceed his career. In the 1920s he travelled a lot ((Dalmatia1923, Middle East 1925, Tunisia, South America 1938, USA 1952) and captured his impressions in watercolours and drawings. From 1928 on he was a member of the Viennese Secession and took part in many exhibitions.

At the same time he had a lifelong friendship with the artists Ferdinand Kitt, Franz Zülow, Josef Dobrowsky, Georg Ehrlich and Georg Merkel. They spend their summers together in the Salzkammergut. At Ferdinand Kitts suggestion they formed the Zinkenbacher Malerkolonie (Painters Colony Zinkenbach) near the Wolfgangsee. From 1932 on Huber showed his works regularly at the Biennale in Venice. In 1935 he received the Austrian State Award for his watercolours and in 1937 the Honour Prize of Vienna. His son died in 1943 and his apartment was destroyed during the Second World War, then Huber and his wife moved to Wagrain in the Salzkammergut. In the same village lived their friend Karl Heinrich Waggerl, a famous Austrian writer. In 1949 Huber received the title professor, in 1952 followed by the Honour Prize for painters at the Kunstverein Salzburg. In 1956 Huber and his wife moved back to Vienna.

Ernst Huber died 1960 in Vienna.