Leo Stopfer

Biography

Early life and art techniques 1979 – first drawings; 1981 – inspired by Picasso's works, he starts painting with oil-color; 1982 – first personal exhibition; 1989/90 — "The earth has a skin" – organic abstract paintings in his special mixed technique (with soil, stones, sand, and dry plants mixed with acrylic- or oil-colors creating a relief on canvas) Berlin,

Leo Stopfer was the first artist to be invited by the Klimt Villa in Vienna in 2017 to work in the original studio where the master Gustav Klimt lived and worked. This work resulted in dozens of drawings and a large number of women's portraits united under the title "my muses" . This series of works was presented at the personal exhibition of Leo Stopfer in the Klimt Villa in May 2018.

Stopfer had a current solo exhibition that took place at the Vienna State Opera. At the invitation of the directorate of the Vienna State Opera, Leo Stopfer presented an exhibition of his works capturing dancers of the house to the public.

Style Stopfer's earlier paintings are landscapes in an organic-abstract style, using a mixed impasto technique. He combined earth, sand, and stones with acrylic paint to develop a relief-like texture.

The artist likes to work with acrylic combined with pencil. He also sometimes works with mixed media, using gouache when the ballerinas dance on his canvas to make prints with their feet.

In his works, the artist tries to express a portion of the dancer's energy. The models depicted by Leo Stopfer are always characterized by heightened sensuality and frankness.