Robert Kautsky
Robert Kautsky (26 October 1895 – 18 June 1963) was an Austrian theatre painter, stage and costume designer, who worked for many years at the Vienna State Opera and at the Salzburg Festival. Life and work. Born in Vienna, Kautsky came from a family of theatre painters and actors. His grandfather Johann Kautsky (1827–1896) was a painter and stage designer in Prague, his grandmother was the actress and writer Minna Kautsky (1837–1912). His father, Hans Joseph Wilhelm Kautsky (1864–1937) was a royal Austrian and royal Prussian court theatre painter in Vienna and Berlin. His eldest brother (1891–1966) became a  famous chemist, his second brother Fritz worked as a geologist in Sweden. His uncle was the social democratic theorist Karl Kautsky (1854–1938), married to Luise Kautsky. Kautsky graduated from the Gymnasium in Vienna and then went to the Academy in Berlin-Charlottenburg. After the end of the First World War he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. His grandfather Johann Kautsky was a highly respected stage painter who decorated numerous new productions of the Vienna Court Opera in the 1870s and 1880s. For example, he designed the sets for the Vienna premiere of Meyerbeer's "L'Africaine" in 1870  and, together with Carlo Brioschi and Hermann Burghart, designed the scenery for two other important Viennese premieres: Verdi's "Aida" in 1874 and Wagner's "Siegfried" in 1878. The sets of "L'Africaine" could still be seen at the Vienna Opera until 1903, those of "Aida" until December 1931. The grandson followed in his grandfather's footsteps and worked for the Vienna State Opera already in 1920, at the age of 25. He was in charge of the "Decorative set with use of the original Italian designs" for Puccini's comic opera "Gianni Schicchi". In 1921, he became director of the  painters' hall at the Vienna State Opera. In the same year he married Rosa Krupha. In 1924 he became a member of the Kunstgemeinschaft Wien. For many years he assisted the legendary set designer Alfred Roller and was jointly responsible for the decorations for "Feuersnot" by Richard Strauss in March 1922. In December of the same year, his first independent set had its premiere, Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera "Hänsel und Gretel", staged by Woldemar Runge and conducted by Richard Strauss. He had a long-standing collaboration with the composer and conductor, both in Vienna, where Kautsky set "Arabella , Ariadne auf Naxos" and the "Der Rosenkavalier", among others, and in Salzburg. Like Strauss, Kautsky was active in Vienna and Salzburg throughout all the system changes – from the first Austrian Republic to the Ständestaat and the Anschluss to the Second Austrian Republic. It is not known how far he came to terms with the Nazi regime. He debuted at the Salzburg Festival, again with Roller, in 1933 for another Richard Strauss premiere, "Die ägyptische Helena". He worked with a number of renowned conductors and directors in Salzburg, most recently with Oscar Fritz Schuh for a new "Così fan tutte" in  1947. Kautsky's most successful productions were created in the post-war years at the Staatsoper's temporary quarters, at the Volksoper and at the Theater an der Wien. The sets for Beethoven's "Fidelio" were used in 145 performances, those for Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann" 216 times. Both productions were made in 1945, the "Fidelio" was directed by , the Offenbach opera by Oscar Fritz Schuh. His "Aida" production from 1946 reached 290 performances, the new production of "the magic flute" from 1948 was shown 239 times, "Der Rosenkavalier" from 1955 a total of 175 times. Three quite  different works are recorded in the archives as the last stage sets at the State Opera in 1960: "Andrea Chénier" in May, "Capriccio" in June and "Der Wildschütz" in October. The decorations of "Capriccio" remained in the State Opera's repertoire until 1997, 33 years after Kautsky' death in Leoben at the age of 67.