Born in Linz in 1938, Othmar Zechyr began studying at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1959/60 but left after just a few days. His first solo exhibition took place in 1962 and was followed by numerous exhibitions in Austria and abroad. Starting from the 1960s, Zechyr extensively devoted himself to theatre and music (as a singer, pianist and drummer). Awarded the "Würdigungspreis" of the city of Vienna and the Alfred-Kubin-Prize of the state of Upper Austria (1996), Othmar Zechyr went on his last study trips to Italy and Czech Republic, before succumbing to the consequences of a long illness in 1996. In 2001, the big retrospective "Zechyr - Drawings 1966 - 1996" was shown at the "Kunsthistorisches Museum", Palais Harrach Vienna and in the “Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz” and the exhibition "Othmar Zechyr - the Printed Work" took place in the “Landesgalerie Linz”. In his drawings, Zechyr was often more guided by old masters, such as Rembrandt, than by his contemporaries. His painting and drawing style is marked by the timelessness of an energetic stroke, that straddles the curve between classic and modernism.