German-Austrian painter Martin Praska studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1985 to 1990, graduating with honours as a masterclass student of Rudolf Hausner and Arik Brauer. During his degree, in 1986, he won the silver medal in the prestigious Füger Prize. The 1990s saw him take part in many painting symposiums as well as spending time abroad, including in Český Krumlov and London. In 1995, he became a member of the Linz-based artists’ union MAERZ, and in 1999 co-founded the artists’ group Die halbe Wahrheit (Half the Truth). From 2002 to 2004, Praska was chairman of the Union of Fine Artists in Austria. In 2008, he co-founded another artists’ group, k2 United Painters.

Over the past few years, his works have made their way into important private and public collections across Austria (including the Albertina in Vienna, the Essl Museum in Klosterneuburg, the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg, the Lentos Museum in Linz and the Angerlehner Museum in Wels) and have been exhibited at European art fairs (WIKAM, Art Austria Vienna, Art Frankfurt, FIAC Paris, Art Fair Zurich). Along with other international painters, he presented his works in the European Cultural Centre (Palazzo Mora) at the 58th Venice Biennale, which was followed by an exhibition in the Angerlehner Museum, Thalheim bei Wels, in 2020. Alongside his work as a freelance artist, Praska lectures at the Academy of Art in Bad Reichenhall.