ITHACA, NY.-Josef Mikl, one of Austria's best-known postwar painters, has died. The Austrian Press Agencya said Mikl's widow, Brigitte Bruckner, said her husband died of cancer Saturday and was buried Thursday. His death was kept confidential until after the burial in accordance with his wishes, she said. Mikl, 78, was considered the most important Austrian representative of the Informal style, with a wide range of expression exhibited in works that spanned more than half a century.

Josef Mikl was an Austria painter born in Vienna, who received his first training at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt. He studied at the prominent Viennese academy from 1949-1956 under Josef Dobrovský.