Ernst Fuchs (artist)

Ernst Fuchs (February 13, 1930 - ) is an Austrian painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, composer, poet and singer.

Related Topics:
February 13 - 1930 - Austria

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Son of Maximillian and Leopoldine Fuchs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He studied sculpture with Emmy Steinbock (1943), attended the St. Anna Painting School where he studied under Prof. Fröhlich (1944).

Related Topics:
Emmy Steinbock - Fröhlich

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He entered the Acad. of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1945 where he began his studies under Prof. Robin C. Anderson, later moving to the class of Albert Paris von Gütersloh.

Related Topics:
Acad. of Fine Arts - Robin C. Anderson - Albert Paris von Gütersloh

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the Acad. of Fine Arts in Vienna he met Arik Bauer, Rudolf Hausner, Wolfgang Hutter and Anton Lehmden, together with whom he later founded what has become known as the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. He was also a founder-member of the Art-Club (1946), as well as the Hundsgruppe, set up in opposition to it in 1951, together with Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Arnulf Rainer.

Related Topics:
Arik Bauer - Rudolf Hausner - Wolfgang Hutter - Anton Lehmden - Vienna School of Fantastic Realism - Art-Club - Hundsgruppe - Friedensreich Hundertwasser - Arnulf Rainer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His work of this period was influenced by the art of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele and then by Max Pechstein, Heinrich Campendonck, Edvard Munch, Henry Moore and Picasso. Adopting the old masters misch(e) technik (mixed technique) of resin oil and egg tempera painting he sought to achieve and revive the precise techniques of old masters such as Albrecht Altdorfer, Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald and Martin Schongauer, who served as his examples.

Related Topics:
Gustav Klimt - Egon Schiele - Max Pechstein - Heinrich Campendonck - Edvard Munch - Henry Moore - Picasso - Albrecht Altdorfer - Albrecht Dürer - Matthias Grünewald - Martin Schongauer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his autobiographical sketch (Ernst Fuchs: Biographia Mythomanica in Helmut Weiss Ernst Fuchs: Das graphische Werk, Vienna 1967, p. 7ff) Fuchs describes his father?s scrap yard situated on the south side of Vienna where, as a child before the war, he found beautiful old books and prints which instilled in him a love of decoration, heraldic symbols like the Austrian double-eagle, for fine paper, engravings and woodcuts. Here he found scrap brass plates on which he produced his first etchings. These discoveries fired his imagination and had a lasting influence on him during these formative years, which can be traced throughout his oeuvre. Encouraged by his parents Fuchs? imagination was allowed free reign. He drew from and early age and was considered a child prodigy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Between 1950 and 1961 Fuchs lived mostly in Paris and made a number of journeys to the USA and Israel. His favourite reading material at the time is the sermons of Meister Eckehart. He also studies the symbolism of the alchemists and reads Jung?s Psychology of Alchemy. His favourite examples at the time are the mannerists, especially Jacques Callot, and is also very much influenced by Jan Van Eyck and Jean Fouquet. In 1958 he founded the Galerie Fuchs-Fischoff in Vienna to promote and support the younger painters of the Fantastic Realist school. Together with Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Arnulf Rainer he founded the Pintorarium.

Related Topics:
Meister Eckehart - Symbolism - Alchemists - Jacques Callot - Jan Van Eyck - Jean Fouquet - Fantastic Realist - Friedensreich Hundertwasser - Arnulf Rainer - Pintorarium

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1956 he converted to Catholicism (his mother had had him baptized during the war in order to save him from being sent to a concentration camp). In 1957 he entered the Dormittio Monastery on Mount Zion, where he began work on his monumental Last Supper and devoted himself to producing small sized paintings on religious themes such as Moses and the Burning Bush ..., culminating in a commission to paint three altar paintings on parchment, the cycle of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary (1958-61), for the Rosenkranzkirche in Hetzendorf, Vienna. He also deals with contemporary issues in his masterpiece of this period Psalm 69, 1949-60 (see Fuchs, 1978, p. 53).

Related Topics:
Catholicism - Rosenkranzkirche

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He returned to Vienna in 1961 and had a vision of what he called the ?verschollener Stil? (The Hidden Prime of Styles), the theory of which he set out in his inspired and grandiose book (Salzburg, 1966). He also produced several important cycles of prints, such as Unicorn (1950-52), Samson (1960-64), Esther (1964-7) and Sphinx (1966-7; all illustrated in Weis). In 1972 he acquires the derelict Otto Wagner Villa in Hetzendorf, which he restores and transforms. The villa is inaugurated as the Ernst Fuchs Museum in 1988. From 1970 he embarked on numerous sculptural works such as Queen Esther (h. 2.63 m, 1972), located at the entrance to the museum (see below) and mounted on the Cadillac at the entrance to the Dalí Museum in...

Related Topics:
Unicorn - Samson - Sphinx - Otto Wagner Villa - Ernst Fuchs Museum - Dalí Museum

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From 1974 he became involved in designing stage sets and costumes for the operas of Mozart and Richard Wagner including The Magic Flute, Parsifal and Lohengrin...

Related Topics:
Mozart - Richard Wagner - The Magic Flute - Parsifal - Lohengrin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1993 Fuchs was given a retrospective exhibition at the State Museum in St. Petersburg...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ernst Fuchs continues to inspire and has many exponents and disciples including HR Giger, Mark Ryden and Robert Venosa. A new generation of students includes Andrew Gonzalez, Amanda Sage, Antonio Roybal and others.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~