Otto Beckmann

Otto Beckmann was born in Vladivostok, Russia, in 1908 and moved with his family to Vienna in 1922. He trained as an electromechanic and studied at both the Higher Technical College in Mödling and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After graduating in 1941, Beckmann taught at the State School of Applied Arts in Kraków during the war years. From 1945 onward, he lived and worked as an independent artist in Vienna, quickly becoming a versatile creative force across sculpture, painting, photography, film, and writing. He joined the Vienna Secession in 1951, an artist-led movement founded to challenge academic norms and promote innovation in art. Rooted in the belief that every age demands its own art, the group embraced experimentation and new ideas.  In 1958, Beckmann was granted the official title of Professor by the Austrian Federal President.

Beckmann’s work resists simple categorization; he rejected the idea that art should be confined to a single medium or discipline. His approach combined technology and creativity, mixing algorithmic methods with intuition. Even before computers were widely used, he applied mathematical principles and conceptual systems in his work. He worked across sculpture, graphics, film, and sound, experimenting with light and early computer-generated images. He used custom-built tools, including a studio computer designed by his son Oskar, which he called an “intelligible tool” that expanded his creative possibilities. Beckmann adjusted this computer’s settings in real time, describing his process as a “dialogue between man and machine.” As an early computer art pioneer, he combined algorithmic precision with figurative and architectural forms, setting his work apart from more abstract contemporaries.

In 1966, Beckmann founded ars intermedia, an experimental group bringing artists and technical experts from the Technical University of Vienna together. The group explored new ways to combine art with emerging computer technologies. Their projects ranged from computer graphics and laser art to sound and film, with a focus on close collaboration between artists and scientists. They developed their own computer systems to avoid reliance on commercial technology and explore digital art in a new way during this early phase of the medium.

Starting in the late 1960s, Beckmann’s work appeared in major exhibitions including the Zagreb symposium on computer art, and the 2008 retrospective Between Mysticism and Calculation at Neue Galerie Graz. His pieces are held in prominent international collections such as the Albertina in Vienna, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Kunsthalle Bremen, and ZKM Karlsruhe. In 1972, he was awarded the Adolf-Schärf Prize for the Advancement of Science in recognition of his innovations in computer art. Since 2005, the Otto Beckmann Archive, founded by his son Richard, has preserved and promoted his legacy, supporting research and exhibitions that emphasize his pioneering contributions to art and technology. Beckmann passed away in 1997.