Legler is considered the painter who discovered the region of Morava. He was one of those closest to Carl Moll, and his first marriage was to Grete Schindler, the sister of Alma Mahler and stepdaughter of Carl Moll.
Legler was a student of Carl Moll from 1897, and of Pötzelsberger, Kalckreuth and Adolf Hölzel in Stuttgart between 1899 and 1906. He studied etching under Alexander Eckener. From 1906 onwards, he worked first in Vienna, Linz, then in Dimburg and in Stillfried on the Morava.
During his time in Stuttgart, Legler focused on etchings, but returned to his love for landscape painting on the Morava later on. His impressive interiors are influenced by Carl Moll until around 1915. He lived mostly in Vienna from 1929.
His works were exhibited in the legendary 1908 Kunstschau of the Klimt group, and at the International Art Show in Vienna in 1909. In 1914, he became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus. His work was honored with the Drasche Prize in 1915, the Anniversary Prize in 1927, and the State Honorary Prize in 1933 and 1935.
In 1945, on the occasion of Legler’s 70th birthday, the Künstlerhaus was planning to hold an omnibus exhibition of his works. But on April 8, a bomb destroyed his entire artistic life’s work at the artist’s apartment on Rainergasse 27.
Works at:
Albertina, Vienna
Belvedere, Vienna
Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum [Lower Austria Regional Museum], St. Pölten
