Although graffiti in general is conceived as an illegal activity, the truth is that it has gained notoriety as an artistic expression that is worth considering in the history of art, as well as the human desire to leave a mark and evidence of its existence in the environment that surrounds them.
In this way, some antecedents of modern graffiti are known, such as that of the Romans, who used to engrave everything from love verses to jokes and insults on the walls of Rome. For example, it is said that a good part of the love poetry of the famous poet Catullus appeared on the walls of said city.
Examples of this type are common in our history but despite this, it was not until the 1970s that graffiti was established as a purely urban style until its transition towards the artistic. There are artists like Taki 183, who is usually considered the first graffiti artist, however, centuries before him there was Kyselak, who is now considered the predecessor of “tagging” that is, when graffiti artists only leave their name or pseudonym marked on the walls without any other element.
Kyselak was a traveler and mountaineer who around 1825 toured the Austrian Empire and would later publish a book that included his experiences in each place he visited. Kyselak’s journey and mere existence would surely have been completely forgotten if it were not for the fact that he decided to carve or paint his name with oil paints in every place he reached, even in the highest places in the mountains. In fact, his travels were not limited to the Austrian Empire, it is also said that he visited Ecuador and climbed Chimborazo – the highest mountain in that country at 6,263 meters high -, there Alexander von Humboldt would find the then-famous name.
Kyselak‘s activity became famous to the point that when he decided to place his name on one of the walls of the royal palace of Francis I of Austria, he called him to an audience, in which, legend has it, Kyselak took the opportunity to leave his name on the emperor’s desk despite the latter reprimanding him for his activity. Some of Kyselak’s graffiti has survived the test of time, however, the truth is that it has also been the subject of copies and imitations, which although it helps the myth of this graffiti artist who decided to defy royal orders to continue with which seemed to be a rather unusual entertainment and quest for fame for its time.
This story was originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
