Gabriele Baumgartner

2021

The two stained glass windows and the chasuble for the church in Parsch, Salzburg, mark the beginning of Josef Mikl's work in the sacred field in 1955/56. In the following decades, the artist received further commissions for chasubles, altarpieces and stained glass windows. His 16 Obergarden windows for the Peace Church in Hiroshima are of particular international significance. Another striking artistic highlight is the 300 m² mural in the Emmaus Chapel of the St. Virgil Education Center in Salzburg, which Josef Mikl completed in 1975/76.

 
Sacred themes are also repeatedly found in his paintings, such as: Christusfigur, 1971 / 72, oil on canvas, 300 x 200 cm or Kreuzfigur, 1993, oil on canvas, 300 x 200 cm.

Josef Mikl had a special relationship with his patron saint, St. Joseph: the artist was very fond of collecting small devotional objects that tell of the saint's life or represent him. St. Joseph of Nazareth is not considered to be the biological father of Jesus and is therefore referred to as the “foster father” in Catholic circles. He is usually depicted with his family or as a caring father who carries or washes the child

Just how deep Josef Mikl's connection to his namesake was can be seen in some of his tributes in his works

The ceiling painting (404 m") of the Great Redouten Hall in the Vienna Hofburg (1994 - 1997) refers to the poem ‘Youth’ by Karl Kraus. Its 34 verses are invisibly woven into the painting for the viewer. However, there is also a dedication to St. Joseph next to the signature.

As he himself confirms in his book published in 1997: Mikl Deckenbild und Wandbilder Grosser Redoutensaal Wiener Hofburg 1994 - 1997 with a photo of his note and inscription: Dedicated to my patron saint (inscribed in the ceiling and on a mural)

In 1975, Josef Mikl created a stained glass window for a chapel on the property of a couple he was friends with, which the artist himself dedicated to “Josef, the patron saint”.

In 1994 / 95, he made his last window for his private use, which he dedicated to his patron saint and quoted the old “Prayer to the holy patron saint Joseph”.
Mikl took one sentence and wrote on the bottom left of the blue glass: “Saint Joseph: You are the one to whom the most precious treasures of heaven and earth have been given for safekeeping.” The stained glass window is now privately owned in Vienna.  

In his text: Does the artist need the church? Josef Mikl opens up to the reader his view of the value and position of the “church” in relation to artists and its role as commissioner. He ends with the words:

Does the artist need faith?
There is no art without faith, that has been proven.