The study concerns itself with the Künstlerdrama [Drama of the artist], a genre with which research in literary and drama studies has so far scarcely concerned itself, despite its popularity. The study first examines as exemplars theatrical texts by Gerhart Hauptmann, Bertolt Brecht, Wolfgang Bauer, Thomas Bernhard, Falk Richter and others both with reference to the texts and from the perspective of field theory. The study then presents an historical overview of the genesis of the genre and the central motifs of the 20th century Künstlerdrama.