The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism () is a group of artists founded in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in 1946. The group's name was coined in the 1950s by Johann Muskik, and the first exhibition was in 1959 at the Vienna Belvedere. This Austrian movement has similarities to
Surrealism
Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
in its use of religious and
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...
symbolism and also the choice of a naturalistic style, countering the prevalence of
abstract art
Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...
movements at the time.
Artists include
Ernst Fuchs,
Maître Leherb (Helmut Leherb),
Arik Brauer
Arik Brauer (; 4 January 1929 – 24 January 2021) was an Austrian painter, printmaker, poet, dancer, singer-songwriter, stage designer, architect, and academic teacher.
Brauer, from a family of Jewish emigrants, grew up in Vienna under the N ...
,
Wolfgang Hutter Wolfgang Hutter (December 13, 1928 – September 26, 2014) was a painter, draughtsman, printmaker and stage designer. Hutter's imagery is characterised by an artificial paradise of gardens and fantastical fairytale-like scenes. His work is said to ...
,
Anton Lehmden
Anton Lehmden (2 January 1929 – 7 August 2018) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.
Lehmden was a co-founder, together with Ernst Fuchs, Maître Leherb (Helmut Leherb), Rudolf Hausner, Arik Brauer, Fritz Janschka and Wo ...
, Fritz Janschka, and Israeli artist
Zeev Kun, all students of Professor
Albert Paris Gütersloh at the
Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Gütersloh's emphasis on the techniques of the
gave the "fantastic realist" painters a grounding in realism, similar to early Flemish artists such as
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...
.
Some older members of the group, including
Rudolf Hausner,
Kurt Regschek and
Fritz Janschka, emigrated to the US in 1949, where Kurt Regschek helped organize the early exhibitions of the group in 1965. Hausner, Fuchs, Hutter, Brauer and Lehmden were referred to as "The Big Five" who subsequently held exhibitions internationally.
Books
* 1974: ''Die Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus'' (C. Bertelsmann) (Johann Muschik)
* 2005: ''Fantastic Art'' (
Taschen
Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt Taschen and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen.
History
The company began as Tasch ...
)(Schurian, Prof. Dr. Walter) (English edition)
* 2003: ''Die Phantasten – Die Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realisums'' (Stdtgemeinde Tulln)
* 2007: ''Metamorphosis'' (beinArt)
* 2008: ''Phantastischer Realismus'' (Belvedere, Wien)
See also
*
Visionary art
External links
The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism*
Kurt Regschek (German Wikipedia)
1946 establishments in Austria
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Art movements
Arts organizations established in 1946
Austrian art
Austrian artist groups and collectives
Fantastic realism
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