Arnulf Rainer
Gruner Berg, 1971, etching
Arnulf Rainer was born in 1829 in Austria. The painter’s early artwork in school was immensely inspired by aerial photography and landscapes with fires, tanks, and bomb crates. A huge admirer of surrealism, Rainer, along with others, founded Hundsgruppe in 1950. Later on, however, Arnulf Rainer was a fan of l’art informel and his art took on much more abstract forms. He called these forms “microstructures” which led to ''centralisations'' and ''cebtrak" and ''vertical designs'' which were drawings reduced to minuscule marks. His post-1954 style included darkening, overpaintings, and obscuring photographs. He received the 1978 Great Austrian National Prize and represented Austria in the Venice Biennale in the same year as well as 1980.
Kreuz, braun dunkel, 2009, etching, 67,5 x 50 cm
Kreuz, schwarz blau, 2002, etching, 53 x 39,6 cm
Rainer’s abstract work has marked him as an Abstract Art icon in Austria and nationally. His work has a fervent energy to it that assumes motion. The strong colors and determinant overlay provide a deconstruction of assumptions and allow for unimaginable artistic expressions. The heaviness and violence emphasized on the masses of lines create a sense of subjectivity that has marked his command and dominance of Abstract Informal Art.
Paysage rouge brique, 1987, etching, 45,5 x 55 cm
Schleierbild, 1998 - 1999
Violet Furrows, 1972–9, etching, 53 x 78.6 cm
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