24.06.26 – 01.08.2026
1895 Dauba – 1971 Innsbruck
Ernst Nepo was born on October 17, 1895, in Dauba, Bohemia. He attended the School of Applied Arts in Teplitz from 1909 to 1913 and continued his education from 1913 to 1914 at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna. From 1914 to 1918, he was called to military service on the Southern Front and in Galicia, after which he moved to Innsbruck. In 1917, he exhibited for the first time at the Czichna Art Gallery.
The painters Rudolf Lehnert, Herbst Gurschner, Alphons Schnegg, and Ernst Nepo were bound by a close friendship, and together they formed the so-called Mühlauer Circle. In 1920, Ernst Nepomucky changed his name to Nepo and co-founded the artists’ association “Waage” in 1925.
In the 1920s, he turned to New Objectivity after having explored Secessionism and Expressionism.
In 1927, he received the State Medal for the portrait “Frau Ostheimer” and was admitted to the Vienna Secession that same year. From 1928 to 1933, he worked on several church frescoes in Tyrol and Vorarlberg, and from 1933 to 1937, he created stage sets for the Stadttheater and the Exelbühne in Innsbruck.
In 1934, he entered the competition for the State Prize and exhibited his work at numerous exhibitions in Tyrol in the following years.
From 1938 to 1939 and from 1941 to 1942, he served as regional director of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts in Tyrol. In between, in 1940, he was called to serve on various fronts during the war.
