International and Contemporary | Modern British/Post War | Photography | Archive | Index
Friedrich NaglerFriedrich Nagler (born in Vienna in 1920) maintained his ambition to be an artist throughout a poor and difficult childhood. Unable to attend an art school because of the rise of antisemitism in Austria, Nagler managed to escape to England before the war. He was soon interned on the Isle of Man before being sent to Canada with other internees, and was not able to return to England until 1943. This self-taught émigré artist eventually was able to settle in England in 1945 where he lived for over five decades in a private world of self-imposed obscurity in rural Hampshire. He died in 2009 after producing a cornucopia of tiny carved faces, small sculptures, intricate objects, paintings and assemblages of found and modified material that had gradually accumulated and filled his tiny bungalow. Nagler's works were rarely seen, even by friends and family, and he resisted offers to exhibit works in his lifetime.
In 2013, England & Co held a solo exhibition of his work as part of an occasional series focusing on artists working 'outside the mainstream'. A selection of Nagler's works are available from England & Co, and a group of his sculptures were displayed with the gallery at the 20/21 Modern British Art Fair 2014 at the Royal College of Art. The exhibition The Secret World of Friedrich Nagler 1920-2009 was featured at the Paul Smith Space Gallery in Tokyo (21 February-31 March 2015).
Currently, Friedrich Nagler: Wunderkammer, an installation of the artist's small sculptural works can be seen at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester (until 16 October 2016).
Paintings
Found and modified metal components
Private collection
