Oskar Icha

He studied sculpting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, where his primary instructor was Anton Hanak. During his time there, he received several awards, including the Academy's Gundel-Prize for excellence. In 1921, he was awarded the Reichel-Prize. He created several war memorials, notably in Aspern, cemetery sculptures for the funeral hall at the Neustifter Friedhof, and the "Risen Christ" at the Jedleseer Friedhof. In 1927, he created a relief of Beethoven at the Erdődy Estate in Jedlesee which, until 2013, was used as a monument to the composer. In 1930, the city of Vienna commissioned several reliefs for community buildings and, in 1931, he received a gold medal from the Albrecht-Dürer-Bund, an artists' society founded in 1851. In 1935, he took part in a competition for a monument to labor on the Schmerlingplatz and, the following year, for one dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph I. He was a member of the Vienna Kunstgemeinschaft, and participated in their exhibitions at the Palmenhaus. He committed suicide in 1945, and was interred at the Jedleseer Friedhof. In 1971, a street in Vienna's Donaufeld district was named after him.