The relationship between Alma Mahler and Oskar Kokoschka had a profound impact on the artist’s life and work. In 1911, Alma’s husband, Gustav Mahler, passed away, and Kokoschka met her that same year. Their relationship intensified rapidly. She came to serve as a vital source of inspiration for him, often posing for his drawings and paintings. However, Kokoschka was subject to violent emotion and it was not long before his love for Alma developed into an obsession.  He was said to be extremely jealous and controlling at times. 

Their relationship was often described as one of “fire and ice,” and within eighteen months, there were visible signs of strain.  The couple traveled to Italy in 1913 and during a visit to the Naples aquarium, Kokoschka later recalled “watching an insect sting and paralyze a fish, before devouring it, and at once associated the scene with the woman by his side.”

Alma soon became pregnant, and secretly had the child aborted. This was a devastating blow to Kokoschka and the inspiration behind one of his most celebrated paintings, Knight Errant.

He found a short respite from the relationship by enlisting in the army, but he was wounded in Russia in 1915. Before he was able to fully recover, he was dealt another blow which caused his health to remain unstable for almost another year. He received word of Alma Mahler’s marriage to her previous lover Walter Gropius. Anxious to relieve his grief, he commissioned to have a life-size doll of Alma made. He found a well-known seamstress and doll-maker in Munich who, conveniently for Kokoschka, had previously been Alma’s dressmaker. He wrote very detailed descriptions of how he wanted the doll to be constructed, out of what materials, how he wanted the joints to work, etc. He drew many sketches for the seamstress and emphasized how it was absolutely crucial that she replicate every detail exactly.

After almost a year, the doll was finally finished.  Upon opening the crate as it arrived, he was horribly disappointed. It was after all, still just a doll, and even he, in his love-crazed state, could not convince himself otherwise. However disappointed he was, it did not seem to alter his plans for the doll, as he was seen unabashedly escorting the doll around Dresden, where he lived at the time. He was known to take the doll into restaurants and demand that a place be set for it. He was often seen with the doll while riding in his carriage, or at the theater as well.