Seelenmesse für Ernst Fuchs

Seelenmesse für Ernst Fuchs ​Liebe Freunde und Familie, am 1. Todestag von Ernst Fuchs möchten wir euch herzlich zur Seelenmesse am Mittwoch, den 9. November 2016 einladen. Messebeginn: 18:00 Ort: Pfarrkirche zum Hl. Apostel Andreas in Hütteldorf, Linzer Straße 424, 1140 Wien. Gerne empfangen wir euch anschließend ab 19:00 im Ernst Fuchs-Museum (14.,Hüttelbergstraße 26) zu einem gemeinsamen Abend in Gedenken an unseren lieben Ernst. Wir freuen uns auf euer Kommen, Familie Fuchs ​Einladung auf Facebook

Ernst Fuchs passed away at age 85

It came as a great shock to me to find out this morning that Ernst Fuchs passed away. 

I am very sad.

 Rest In Peace dear Ernst!

Malerfürst Ernst Fuchs mit 85 Jahren gestorben

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Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs dies aged 85

MEMORIES - some are from 3 Years earlier celebrating his birthday at the Cafe Palffy, downstairs from our studios at the Palais Palffy, also the home of the Phantastenmuseum Wien.

February 2012 at the Cafe Palffy

with Dr. Cornelia Mensdorff-Pouilly - it was his birthday!

Ernst Fuchs, Bella Volen and I were studio neighbors at the Palais Palffy - 
here we are in Bella's studio with German artist and mutual friend Siegfried Zademack 

at the studio

again, at the birthday party in the Cafe Palffy with a young friend of the family

he was always writing in his journal ...... one day I had purchased a "Augustin"
(Boulevard paper), he began drawing in the margins of it.
He even signed it. When he was done I took the paper and saved it. 

Happy birthday, Ernst! The stick-pin paintbrush was one of the birthday treats he got that day.

Here he is studying my drawing of "The Beast Of Babylon", on display at the Phantasten Museum. 

The sun glasses were not just a fashion statement: he didn't like to get flashed,
so whenever there were photographers around he would don the glasses. 

these photos quickly gathered from my files - I collected (and took many myself) 

Negative "Stern" Article about Ernst Fuchs

Find below the text from the original e-mail I received  in German, and  the translation in English

Deutsch

Negativer "Stern" Artikel über Ernst Fuchs

Liebe Ernst Fuchs-Freunde!

Wir sind schockiert über den unwahren und diffamierenden Artikel im deutschen "Stern" über den angeblich verwahrlosten Zustand von Ernst Fuchs. Es ist unglaublich, dass sich eine einst angesehene Zeitschrift wie der "Stern" die Liebenswürdigkeit von Ernst Fuchs ausnützend und jeden journalistischen Kodex ignorierend, zu so einer Berichterstattung herablässt. Es wurde nicht einmal davor zurückgeschreckt, Ernst Fuchs im Schlaf zu fotografieren.

Kein Wunder, dass sich die Auflage dieses "Nachrichten-Magazines" in den vergangenen Jahren praktisch halbiert hat.

Wir haben am Erscheinungstag der Verleumdungs-Geschichte sofort Journalisten kontaktiert und sie eingeladen, Ernst Fuchs spontan zu besuchen. Die Reporter der "Krone", des "Kurier" und der Tageszeitung "Österreich" sind unserer Einladung gefolgt und konnten sich davon überzeugen, dass es Ernst Fuchs gut geht, und dass er umgeben von seiner Kunst und seinem Lebenswerk ein selbstbestimmtes Leben führen kann, wie es vielen anderen Menschen in seinem Alter leider nicht möglich ist. Die Artikel haben wir an diesen Blog angehängt.

Wir schreiben Dir/Ihnen diese Zeilen in erster Linie, um eure/Ihre möglicherweise bestehenden, aber wie gesagt unberechtigten Sorgen zu zerstreuen, sollten Sie den unwahren Artikel gelesen haben. Der Artikel ist derartig tendenziös geschrieben, dass er sich selbst diskreditiert und jedes detaillierte Kommentar überflüssig macht.

Wir möchten Sie aber auch wissen lassen, dass sich Ernst Fuchs und seine Familie diese entwürdigende, gegen alle Regeln des Anstandes verstoßende, öffentliche Diffamierung nicht gefallen lassen wird und dass nach Konsultation eines anwaltlichen Spezialisten alle anwendbaren rechtlichen Schritte unverzüglich eingeleitet werden.

Im Namen der Familie Fuchs

English

Negative "Stern" Article about Ernst Fuchs

Dear Ernst Fuchs-Friends!

We are shocked by the false and defamatory article in the German "Stern" on the allegedly neglected state of Ernst Fuchs. It's incredible that a once prestigious magazine as the "Stern" would take advantage of the kindness of Ernst Fuchs, ignoring every journalistic Code and stooping to such a coverage. They did not even shy away from taking pictures of Ernst Fuchs in his sleep.

No wonder that the editions of this "news magazine" were practically halved in the last few years.

We immediately contacted journalists on the day of publication of this defamation story and invited them to visit Ernst Fuchs spontaneously. The reporters of the "Krone", of the "Kurier" and of the daily newspaper "Österreich" have accepted our invitation and were able to convince themselves that Ernst Fuchs is well, and that surrounded by his art and his life's work he can lead an independent life, which for many other people of his age is not possible. The items we attached to this blog.

We are writing these lines to you in the first place,to dispel your possibly existing, but as we said unwarranted worries, should you have read this untrue article. The article is so tendentiously written that it discredits itself, and any detailed comment is superfluous.

But we would also like you to know that Ernst Fuchs and his family will not tolerate this degrading, contrary to all rules of decency, public defamation and that after consultation with a specialist lawyer all the applicable legal steps will be taken immediately.

On behalf of the Fuchs family

_________________________________________

 The contentious and defamatory article is on page 62 in the German magazine 

STERN, issue Nr. 21, 13.5.2015.

the magazine is available in news outlets throughout Europe, 

primarily in German-speaking countries.

_________________________________________

Here are the reactions of Austrian newspapers:

Entwarnung: Ernst Fuchs "geht’s ausgezeichnet" - Kurier May 14. 2015

Below find links to the Newspaper articles of the "Kurier", "Österreich" and the "Kronenzeitung"

Articles are in German, pdf files open in separate window

_________________________________________

Ernst Fuchs Villa - Hüttelbergstraße 26, 1140 Wien

Ernst Fuchs Retrospective

ERNST FUCHS RETROSPECTIVE

May 27th to September 21st 2014

Bratislava City Gallery

Pálffy Palais - Pálffyho palác

Panská 19
Bratislava, Slovakia

PROJECT DESCRIPTION (pdf document, in german)

Swiss Artist HR Giger died yesterday at age 74

The renowned Swiss artist H.R. Giger has died at the age of 74, as a result of injuries sustained in a fall. Giger, who passed away in a Zurich hospital, was most famous for the alien monster he created for the movie of the same name.

The terrifying creature and sets he created for Ridley Scott’s film earned him an Oscar for special effects in 1980. In the art world, Giger is appreciated for his wide body of work in the fantastic realism and surrealistic genres.

...............READ MORE

HR Giger was a frequent visitor in Vienna, the birthplace of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism and the home of his friend and mentor Ernst Fuchs. Such an occasion happened at the Exhibition at the Kunsthaus Wien - it may have been the last time they saw each other.

Dreams and Visions – Kunst Haus Wien

Professor Ernst Fuchs was invited as the special guest speaker to say some words about Giger and his artwork. He is known to have greatly influenced HR Giger. Both are close and long standing friends and are known to greatly admire each other’s vast catalogue of works. (from the blog by Fantastic Visions)

He also met occasionally with Vienna based artists such as 

Peter Gric, Christian Flora and Hanno Karlhuber. 

Peter Gric and HR Giger - photo courtesy Peter Gric

Peter Gric, Christian Flora and HR Giger - photo courtesy Peter Gric

Peter Gric, HR Giger and Hanno Karlhuber - photo courtesy Peter Gric

Peter Gric and HR Giger - photo courtesy Peter Gric

More about HR Giger, with additional links (including his official website)  can be found at the VISIONARY ART GALLERY

_____________________________________________________________________

Thanks Peter Gric for the use of your archived photos - some of which had never been published before.

LAOKOON, ANTI-LAOKOON and ANTI-KOONS

'The time has come,' the walrus said, 'to talk of many things: 

of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings.'

The times of manning the barricades have long since past for me. I no longer hold my breath waiting for change. Hoping, against all hope, perhaps, but I have no illusion that pissing against the wind will change the course of the Titanic. 

From time to time, articles such as "Successor states to an empire in free fall" appear that would promise a glimmer of hope:

"I believe that something different really is happening in today's cultural jungle. Something is stirring that hasn't been seen for 30 years. New theories are emerging with strange and wonderful names that aim to describe in detail a culture and society they say are found on the far side of postmodernism." - Alan Kirby -

but alas, the triumphant proclamation:

Postmodernism is dead. Wail and rend your clothes. Postmodernism is dead. The tyrant is vanquished! 

was probably a little premature. Like I said, don't hold your breath! From time to time, I might indulge in the occasional rant, such as in my post About "Modern Art" and its excesses or I may also pass on some observations such as I'm sick of pretending: I don't get Art - but.... refer to my Titanic quote above.

However, I cannot help throwing the occasional firecracker, little barbs that I am well aware of won't change the course of history one iota, but doing so is catharsis - it makes me feel better (hopefully, it makes you feel better also, that's the whole point).   Jeff Koons could probably care less about what I write, nor would he even know who the hell I am or why he should even care. But I do want to say right here that I find him to be a very engaging and likable individual, and I enjoyed the way he talked about his art.

Lets get to the point, after all this preliminary banter:

 LAOKOON, ANTI-LAOKOON and ANTI-KOONS

Nothing on the conceptual art scene today really surprises me: during my student days (77-82) I was involved with our student newspaper. I wrote critiques, also for our local newspaper and a few times for a national art magazine. Hence my signature "Self-portrait with the Critical Eye" from that period where I tried, tongue in cheek, to show the conflict between being an artist and a critic at the same time.

Selfportrait with the Critical Eye

When I say nothing surprises me: I contributed on several occasions conceptual ideas to our spin-off paper that came out irregularly during carnival and at April Fools Day. It was called "The McLiarist". A few of these conceptual head-slappers I now recognize in contemporary con-art - could it be that somehow they read yellowed copies of this rather obscure (fake) student paper from way back when? Or was I simply clairvoyant?

Laocoön and His Sons

Ernst Fuchs - The Anti-Laokoon, 1965

So now, in the same spirit I hereby conceptualize the following (no need to actually make the object): As in the sixties the Vienna School had reacted to Lessing's Laokoon and particularly Ernst Fuchs had created his monumental work "The Anti-Laokoon" (from his period 1960 to 1970); the first artwork that Jeff Koons sold to a collector (for $ 3.000.-) was a basketball in a fish tank.

Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Two Dr J Silver Series, Spalding NBA Tip-Off) 1985

I therefore propose the 

"Anti-Koons" 

being  imaginary basketballs turned inside-out and filling the space of an otherwise empty gallery.

-----------------------------------------------------

In this space here, I had a image and text link: 

Open Cube Group Show at White Cube Mason's Yard
the image depicted a totally empty room

unfortunately the website does not exist anymore. I should have copied the content (live and learn).
Googling it now only shows several images on the official website, but none of the spaces are empty, like the image shown on the article I had linked to.

-----------------------------------------------------

But unlike the space above, which is derived (or better said: "derivative") of Brian O'Doherty's "Inside the White Cube", this gallery space is not empty, but filled to the brim with imaginary inverted basket balls.

Now if I could just get an interested collector to buy this for hmmmm, let's say 48 Million Dollars 

There are many that say they have a problem with contemporary art: they don't understand it.
I also have a problem with contemporary art: I do understand it.
That makes it so much more painful.

About "artspeak" and the new "tribal jargon" of the artworld:
International Art English

recommended - test "artspeak" text here:
BlaBla Meter - Bullshit Detection Tool

Last, but not least, I would like to share a bit of humor:

How to Succeed in Contemporary Art Without Really Trying
 Just in case this article 'disappears' again, I did 'salvage' this image below:

9. Grab a big armload of shit out of a Goodwill donation dumpster and paper-mache it all together like a disturbed child. If you can’t find a pink sweatshirt, just toss in a dirty rag or whatever junk is closest, like a fast-food wrapper. But not your beret—you’re going to need that. You’re an artist now. 

UPDATE December 2019
Again, the gist of the Vocativ article disappeared, like, the images are missing now, because they redone their website, and the link to it is just a fragment without images.
But the sleuth that I am, I found that the Internet Archive, bless their heart, has a copy of that post in their files, complete with pictures!
Here it is:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180407024055/https://www.vocativ.com/culture/art-culture/report-miami-succeed-modern-art-without-really-trying/

I laughed so hard, tears were streaming down my cheeks. Then I really cried ............

~~~~*~~~~

UPDATE March 2017:

on a related Facebook post, these relevant links were in the comments:

I Was Jeff Koons’s Studio Serf

and

Jeff Koons Lays Off Over a Dozen Staffers After They Tried to Unionize

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit us at the

Austria National Day - Ernst Fuchs honored with Fanfare

ERNST FUCHS HONORED WITH A SPECIAL FANFARE ON HELDENPLATZ

On Saturday October 26th 2013 Austria celebrates it's National Day. The Austrian Armed Forces are on the Heldenplatz in Vienna.
The swearing-in of recruits in the presence of the Federal President and the Federal Government takes place at 10:30 AM. Shortly after 11 AM a special fanfare composed in honor of Prof. Ernst Fuchs will be ceremoniously presented to him.

Foto: Bundesheer/Harald Minich
Nationalfeiertag 2013 in Wien

Bundespräsident Heinz Fischer und Ernst Fuchs
Heldenplatz, Wien, 26.10.2013
Österreichischer Nationalfeiertag
- photo by Vesna Krasnec -

Ernst Fuchs Museum - Facebook Page

Ernst Fuchs Museum has a new website

Visit the NEW website of the ERNST FUCHS MUSEUM

ERNST FUCHS - DIE PHANTASTISCHE SAMMLUNG - EXHIBITION SCHLOSS WEITRA

Prince und Princess Johannes zu Fürstenberg 

and Dr. Cornelia Mensdorff-Pouilly

invite you to attend the grand opening of the exhibition

ERNST FUCHS THE AMAZING COLLECTION

on Saturday, July 30th 2011 at 11:00 AM

at the Schloss Weitra in Austria.

HOCHOSTERWITZ - A METAPHORIC JOURNEY TO THE TOP


In the Austrian province of Carynthia, about 20 km from the St. Egid Chapel in Klagenfurt (famous for Ernst Fuchs' elaborate interior *) you will find the Fortress Castle of Hochosterwitz.

Situated on a 500 foot high rock, you ascend to the castle proper via 14 fortified gates on a 2000 foot long path. There are new and exciting vistas found at every turn of the way, spiralling upwards toward this magnificient structure. It has been said that this castle had never been conquered, and no enemy ever made it past the 4th gate.

Arriving at the top, the view over the land is magnificient in every direction. The illusion persists that on a clear day, one could see as far as Italy.

I am comparing this journey to the spiritual journey one takes while creating art when first setting down a mark. This initial mark is the entry point on your journey through the inner universe. Each successive mark, like one of the gates of the Hochosterwitz, is taking a step closer to revelation. As you ascend, the journey gets more complicated, since the keys to the gates are more like tumblers - you need to assemble that which you have learned so far in the right and specific order to unlock the next step, to defeat the elaborate defense mechanism barring you from going any further.

Imagine now, if you will, that a quick and easy way to the top is provided via a cable car or an elevator. You simply pay at the bottom to be taken to the top. When you get there, you may view the same vista that I do, but what you miss is the journey upwards and the many wondrous things encountered along the way, as well as the appreciation, sense of bliss and satisfaction of having accomplished this ascent. Your view might be the same, but your appreciation of it lacks the experience of the trip and thus I would suspect the understanding and awe of what you see at the top.

Entheogens are the elevators that you may use to spare you the journey to get to the top. In my opinion, it is accomplishing the journey itself that counts here and truly lets you appreciate what you find when you get there.

Rather than a pale snapshot of the top view, when taking this journey on your own power, your art would reflect this whole experience in its entirety.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* this blog is the result of a discussion about the use of drugs by artists, such as Ernst Fuchs. The question was asked by the interviewer in this recent article:  Ernst Fuchs: "Wir leben ja bereits mitten in der Apokalypse" - story in the Kleine Zeitung, Austria, 12.04.2011

See more about the art of Ernst Fuchs at the
VISIONARY ART GALLERY HALL OF FAME:

ERNST FUCHS - Happy Birthday - February 13th

Wishing a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to

Wishing a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to
ERNST FUCHS

Ernst Fuchs (born February 13, 1930) is a multi talented Austrian painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, poet, singer, and one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. He studied sculpture with Emmy Steinbock (1943), attended the St. Anna Painting School where he studied under Professor Fröhlich (1944), and entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1945) where he began his studies under Professor Robin C. Anderson, later moving to the class of Albert Paris von Gütersloh. At the Academy he met Arik Brauer, 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 founding 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. 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 Pablo Picasso.

During this time, seeking to achieve the vivid lighting effects achieved by such Old Masters as Albrecht Altdorfer, Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald and Martin Schongauer, he revived and adopted the mischtechnik (mixed technique) of painting. In the mischtechnik, egg tempera is used to build up volume, and is then glazed with oil paints mixed with resin, producing a jewel-like effect. Between 1950 and 1961, Fuchs lived mostly in Paris, and made a number of journeys to the United States and Israel. His favourite reading material at the time was the sermons of Meister Eckhart. He also studied the symbolism of the alchemists and read Jung's Psychology of Alchemy. His favourite examples at the time were the mannerists, especially Jacques Callot, and he was 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 Realism school. Together with Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Arnulf Rainer, he founded the Pintorarium. In 1956 he converted to Roman 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 Dormition Abbey 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). (Fuchs, 1978, p. 53). 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 forth in his inspired and grandiose book Architectura Caelestis: Die Bilder des verschollenen Stils (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 acquired the derelict Otto Wagner Villa in Hütteldorf, which he restored and transformed. The villa was inaugurated as the Ernst Fuchs Museum in 1988. From 1970 on, he embarked on numerous sculptural projects such as Queen Esther (h. 2.63 m, 1972), located at the entrance to the museum, and also mounted on the radiator cap of the Cadillac at the entrance to the Dalí Museum in Figueras, Catalonia, Spain. From 1974 he became involved in designing stage sets and costumes for the operas of Mozart and Richard Wagner including Die Zauberflöte, Parsifal, and Lohengrin. In 1993 Fuchs was given a retrospective exhibition at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, one of the first Western artists so honored.

visit the

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF ERNST FUCHS

Visit the ERNST FUCHS MUSEUM

see our pages in the Visionary Art Gallery:

"Fuchs-Chapel": The Apokalypse is coming

Detail of “Isaacs Offering” on the west-wall of the Chapel

More images are found on

the Church of St.Egid

Website

Main Article in the (Austrian) Kurier on Friday, April 2nd:

Ernst Fuchs created: "In God's image"

Background Story:

"Fuchs Chapel": the Apocalypse is coming

The News Articles are in German.