Combat Gallery Sunday : The Martial Art of Hans Liska
Much as once a week I like to take time off to cover warships (Wednesdays), on Sunday, I like to cover military art and the painters, illustrators, sculptors, and the like that produced them.
Combat Gallery Sunday : The Martial Art of Hans Liska
Born 1907 in Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hans Liska started off life as a folk singer and small businessman. Then, after studying in Vienna and Munich after the First World War, he landed a job at the Berlin Illustrated newspaper in 1933. He illustrated Rudolf Defends’s, Der König von Kakikakai.
When the Second World War came, he was drafted and served in a propaganda company producing artwork for Signal, the periodical of the German armed forces. He observed the drawings first hand while serving in Greece, Crete and along the Eastern Front. Two sketchbooks were released of Liska’s art during the war, through the patronage of German aircraft maker Junkers, including Kriegs-Skizzenbuch (Luftwaffe) and Kriegs-Skizzenbuch. While the subject matter, Nazi-era troops and war implements, have never been seen as politically correct, he did capture them rather well and due to his body of work, much military history was saved.
Junkers Ju87 successfully landed with just one wheel. Lieutenant H. told us that Ju87 reached the airfield safely after a direct flak hit, clipping off 3 meters long piece of the wingtip. This aircraft (lower right corner) returned home despite destroyed tail.
German paratroopers at Crete
Gerbisjagers
Fight in the woods. Partisan actions
“End of the Fight” by Hans Liska
“End of Russian heavy battery at Sevastopol” by Hans Liska
Supply column
Fire of the heavy artillery” by Hans Liska
“Panzer Attack” by Hans Liska
“German engineers in action” By Hans Liska
Salvo of the Nebelwerfer rocket battery. by Hans Liska
“Removing Mines” by Hans Liska
After the war, he put down his military sketches and turned to producing ad art for Benz, and Kaiser porcelain. For the latter he made over 200 city skylines to be applied to ceramics.
“Christkindlesmarkt,Nurnberg” by Hans Liska.From hansliska.com
“Köln” by Hans Liska, from Hansliska.com
He was also noted for his sketches of flamenco dancing and bull fighting.
Flamenco by Hans Liska from hansliska.com
from Hansliska.com
He died 26 December 1983 in Austria.
All Wars has a collection of more than 50 of his WWII works. You can visit his official website here.
Thank you for your work, sir.