Oswald Tschirtner was raised by an aunt and uncle in Vienna, and being very religious, attended a seminary school from the age of ten.
After the war, he was stricken by periods of religious fervor and violent episodes, and was sent to a psychiatric institute in 1947.
His figures, particularly in his drawings from the 1980s onwards, are extremely reductive, and he arrives at the essential essence of portrayal through the conveyance of a minimal amount of visual detail.
[citation needed] Tschirtner lived at the Haus der Künstler (House of Artists) since its opening in 1981.
Located on the grounds of the Klosterneuburg Hospital in Maria-Gugging, Austria, this is a domicile where patients who show significant artistic talent live very independently and focus on their creative work.