Wilhelm Thöny

Wilhelm Thöny (10 February 1888, Graz - 1 May 1949, New York City) was an Austrian painter, illustrator, graphic artist and etcher.

He was one of the founding members of the Münchener Neue Secession [de], and became lifelong friends with the artist and writer, Alfred Kubin.

In 1916, he was allowed to visit the prisoner-of-war camps in Broumov, Kleinmünchen (near Linz) and Mauthausen, where he made portrait studies of the prisoners; mostly Italian, Albanian, Romanian, and Greek.

This led to a fascination with large cities so, in 1931, he left Graz and lived in Paris until 1938, precipitating a major change in his style.

During these years, he exhibited widely, receiving a gold medal at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in 1937.