About

Josef Kostner was born in 1933 into a traditional Val Gardena family and worked from childhood in his father’s carving workshop. He was denied the longed-awaited visit to an art school and later an art academy. At the age of 17, he exhibited in the Circle for Art and Culture in Ortisei and a few years later, together with some friends, founded the artists' group “Ruschel” in order to break with the traditional tradition. From 1960 he was commissioned to teach sculpture at the Wolkenstein Art School and began to follow his own creative drive. Countless figures and ink drawings have been created and have been shown in exhibitions at home and abroad.