Hermann Nitsch

Hermann Nitsch, born in Vienna in 1938, is a co-founder of Viennese Actionism, and one of the international pioneers of the Performance Art Movement. This Austrian universal artist's world-famous painting actions have made a major contribution to the development of art post 1945.

More than 90 of these painting actions have been staged thus far, the most recent were held at the Bayreuth Festival in the summer of 2021 to accompany a new production of the opera The Valkyrie. Nitsch's 20th painting action took place at the Vienna Secession in 1987 and is the only instance in which the artist's action works have remained fully available. This is probably Nitsch's most important integrated work of this kind. It symbolises his extraordinary artistic development and constitutes an unrepeatable contemporary document which exudes an international radiance.

About the Author

Hermann Nitsch was born on August 29, 1938 in Vienna. He is the crucial founder of Viennese Actionism and is regarded as one of the most versatile contemporary artists: action performer, painter, composer (symphonies, organ concerts), and set designer. His synthesis of the arts, the Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries, encompasses the broad spectrum of his art by calling on all five senses. Nitsch lives and works at Prinzendorf Castle on the Zaya River, Lower Austria, as well as in Asolo, Italy. His works are exhibited in the two Nitsch Museums in Mistelbach and Naples as well as in the Nitsch Foundation in Vienna and in prestigious international museums and galleries.

86 colour illustrations