Josef Pillhofer was born in Vienna in 1921. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and attended the class of the famous sculptor Fritz Wotruba from 1946 to 1953. In 1950 he went to Paris to study with Ossip Zadkine at the Académie de la Grand Chaumière. He there was influenced by Cubism and by the artists Constantin Brancusi and Henri Laurens. He became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and taught at several Universities in Austria.
Pillhofer’s work is affected by reduction and block-shaped Design. But the artist also had creative periods in which he came closer to nature. Josef Pillhofer lived in Vienna, where he died in July 2010.
Amongst others, his work was shown in exhibitions in Paris and Venice. His work was purchased by international museums in New York, Tokyo, Montreal, Assuan and other cities.