Arnulf Rainer (EN)
Arnulf Rainer
Austria, 1929-2025
His commitment to the search for new pictorial approaches, together with his performative work and extensive written documentation, established Arnulf Rainer as one of the most influential artists of his generation.
Emphasizing the bodily language inherent in the act of painting, Rainer highlighted the earliest forms of human expression and, from the 1970s onward, began photographing himself, creating a link between the theatrical and the graphic as modes of expression. Closely aligned with Viennese Actionism, he explored gesture through performance, expanding his practice to video and developing a mode of painting executed with his hands, which accompanied him throughout his entire career.
Interested in automatism and in the destruction of conventional forms of communication in order to recover the richness of human expression, Rainer grounded his practice in the concealment and overpainting of images by other artists and of self-portraits, moving toward abstraction and the near-total darkening of form. In his constant effort to free himself from his own limitations, he also challenged conventional canvas formats.
In 1978 he represented Austria at the Venice Biennale and participated in several editions of Documenta Kassel. Major institutions such as the Albertina Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, the Nationalgalerie, the Kunsthalle Bern, and the Kunstverein Hamburg devoted retrospective exhibitions to his work.
His works entered the collections of major institutions including the Stedelijk Museum, MoMA New York, the Ludwig Museum, Tate Britain, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, among others.
Arnulf Rainer
Rot Blau Gelb
NF/NIEVES FERNANDEZ
2024
Arnulf Rainer
Blumenserie
ca. 2000
Mixed media on paper on wood
44 x 31,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Blumenserie
ca. 2000
Mixed media on paper on wood
44 x 31,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
2015-16
Tempera on paper on wood
52 x 37 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
2015-16
Acrylic on paper on wood
52 x 37 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
2005
Tempera on wood
87,5 x 70 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
2001
Tempera on wood
82,5 x 62,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
2000
Tempera on wood
83 x 62,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Blumenserie
ca. 2000
Mixed media on paper on wood
44 x 31,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
C01. Untitled (Botticelli)
1998-99
Acrylic on paper on wood
84,5 x 64,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Visages
NF/NIEVES FERNANDEZ. 2020
With a selection of artworks spanning from 1970 to 2002, Visages reviews the importance of faces in the work of Arnulf Rainer through three different series: his self-portraits or Face farces, the Death Masks or Totenmaskes and finally the veiled pictures or Schleierbildern, in which the artist uses as a departure point preexisting images from the history of art.
With the prominence of the Face Farces, which depict a person who can only express himself through the movements of his body, in an attempt of the artist to dissolve himself, as a metaphoric gesture of the oblivion, completely deliberated, of what art is, this exhibition gathers a series of works that insist the whole of art can find its origins in an artist. Either a naked man without any tools for the act of painting, overflowed by painting, either his gaze covering preexisting images.
The overpaintings of the Schleierbilder are the physical trace of this gaze, without the intention of adding any further meaning to the previous image, but rather remove excess meaning anchored to the image through habits and historicization of art.
‘Just as Cézanne, undaunted, observed his apples and his mountains, and day by day helped them to life in his painting, so too does Rainer tirelessly recounts what he observes, day by day, in art, paintings and life’ – Jean-Michel Foray.
Arnulf Rainer
P22 (‘Goya’ series)
1983
Mixed technique on photography
24 x 17 cm
Arnulf Rainer
C21. (‘Goya’ series)
1983
Mixed technique on photograph on wood
62,5 x 52 cm
Arnulf Rainer
C18. (‘Goya’ series)
1983
Mixed media on photograph on wood
63 x 52,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P19 (‘GOYA’ series)
Mixed media on photograph
24 x 17 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P05. (‘Christusköpfe’ series)
1980-81
Oilstick on photograph on wood
62 x 52 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P07. (‘Christusköpfe’ series)
1979-80
Mixed media on paper
26,5×19,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P13. Ludwig van Beethoven (‘Totenmasken’ series)
1978
Pencil on photograph
29,5 x 25 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P08. Verwischte Maske (‘Totenmasken’ series)
1978
Mixed media on photograph
30 x 24,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P09. Friedrich Nietzsche (‘Totenmasken’ series)
1978
Mixed media on photograph
30 x 24,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
C12. Porträt Samuel D. (‘Face Farces’ series)
1970-75
Mixed media on photograph on wood
63 x 53 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P26. (‘Face Farces’ series)
1970-75
Pencil on photograph
24 x 18 cm
Arnulf Rainer
P25. (‘Face Farces’ series)
1970-75
Pencil on photograph
24 x 18 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Farbenfest
NF/NIEVES FERNANDEZ. 2016
Born in Baden, Austria in 1929. Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Berlin and Vienna, Max Beckman Prize and International Photography Prize of New York. He has had retrospectives shows in the Guggenheim of New York, Galleria d’arte Moderno di Bolonia, Georges Pompidou in Paris, Kunsthalle Wien, Nationalgalerie in Berlin, and Albertina Museum in Viena and participated in de Kassel Documenta and the Biennale di Venezia in several occasions. His work can be found, among others, in the collections of the Tate Gallery, MOMA, Ludwig Museum, Stedelijk Amsterdam, NeueNatioanl Gallery in Berlin, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum NYC etc.
Interested in the automatism Arnulf Rainer he started very soon to base his expressivity in the act of hiding existing images getting closer to abstraction, and to the total concealment of forms.Always emphasizing the human act of painting and the body language that painting involves, Rainer praises the first forms of human expression, using the hands to extend the painting, and with unconsciousness as a creative goal.
In the 70’s he starts to take photographs of himself. Creating a link between the theatrical and the graphic as a media of expression he gets closer to the Viennese Actionism and exploring body language through performance he expands his practice to video.
In the last series of work presented at the gallery within these videos, painting stops being closer to monochrome to show brighter colors in different layers, more transparent and free. In Beautiful Ladies, the artist goes back to the faces, one of his main themes, with the intention to touch preexistent images and emphasize them.
Sign of the obsession of the artist to be free of his own limitations, his paintings show his search of the maximum expressivity trough colors, textures and gestures. Even the format of some canvases exceeds the conventional limits and adopts the form of the Latin cross.
From the exaltation to the resignation, from the conventional image or the photographic one distorted, to the absence of images, each series of works by Arnulf Rainer is different, but they all share the wish to destroy the conventional communication to recover the richness of the human expression.
Arnulf Rainer
Lotus gelb
1996
Temper on cardboard on wood
103,5 x 73,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
1996
Temper on cardboard on wood
103,5 x 73,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Rosa Blüten
1996
Tempera on cardboard on wood
103,5 x 73,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Firmament
1995-96
Temper on cardboard on wood
76,5 x 105,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
1995
Temper on cardboard on wood
105 x 76,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
1995
Temper on cardboard on wood
105 x 76,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Makrokosmos
1994/95
Tempera on cardboard on wood
105,5 x 76,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Mikrokosmos
1994
Temper on cardboard on wood
105,5 x 76,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Landschaft
1991-92
Pastel and oil on paper on wood
73 x 102 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
undated
Acrylic on paper on wood
51,5 x 37 cm
Arnulf Rainer
undated
Acrylic on paper on wood
43,5 x 31,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Untitled
undated
Acrylic on paper on wood
31,5 x 43,5 cm
Arnulf Rainer
Awards and Distinctions
2019
Silver Commander’s Cross of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Province of Lower Austria
Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
2015
Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class
2014
Grand Gold Decoration of Honour for Services to the Province of Lower Austria
2006
Aragón-Goya Prize
2004
Honorary Doctorate, University of Münster
2003
Rhenus Art Prize
1989
Gold Medal of Honour of the City of Vienna
International Center of Photography Prize, New York
1982
Max Beckmann Prize
1978
Grand Austrian State Prize for Fine Arts
1966
Austrian State Prize for Graphic Art (jointly with Gotthard Muhr)
Solo Exhibitions (Selection)
2025
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2024
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2022
MARe – Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest, Romania
2020
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2019
Albertina, Vienna
2017
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Linz
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2016
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah
2015
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Museum Weserburg, Bremen
Kunstmuseum Ahlen, Ahlen
Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2014
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
Albertina, Vienna
2013
TEA – Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2012
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Kunsthalle Rostock, Germany
Stiftskirche Baden-Baden, Germany
2011
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid
Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2010
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Catholic Academy, Munich
Vincent van Gogh Huis, Zundert
Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger
2009
Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole, France
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg
Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, Austria
Albertina, Vienna
2008
Austrian Gallery in the Belvedere, Vienna
2007
MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles
Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
2006
District Gallery Schloss Neuburg, Germany
Zaragoza Museum, Zaragoza, Spain
MAK, Vienna
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
2005
Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg
Armando Museum, Amersfoort
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague
2004
Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche, Aschaffenburg / Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr / Haus am Waldsee, Berlin
Museo dello Splendore, Giulianova
Westphalian State Museum, Münster
Atterseehalle, Attersee
Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice
2003
Museo Correr, Venice
Museo Diocesano d’Arte Sacra, Venice
2002
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2001
Museum Würth, Künzelsau
Sinclair-Haus, Bad Homburg
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
2000
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Provincial Center for Visual Arts, Hasselt
Kunstforum Wien, Vienna
Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Linz
1999
Municipal Art Collections Augsburg, Neue Galerie im Höhmann-Haus
City Gallery of Bratislava
1998
Carolino Augusteum, Salzburg Museum of Art and Cultural History / Theatermuseum, Hanover
1997
Kunsthalle Krems
Kunstmuseum Bonn / State Gallery Moritzburg, Halle / Rupertinum, Salzburg
1996
Carinthian State Gallery, Klagenfurt
State Museum of Art and Cultural History, Oldenburg
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
CGAC – Galician Center for Contemporary Art, Santiago de Compostela
1995
Museion – Museum of Modern Art, Bolzano
National Museum Cotroceni, Bucharest / National Museum Brukenthal, Sibiu
Palazzo Ducale, Genoa
1994
Schömer-Haus, Klosterneuburg / Cultural Center of Graz
City Museums of Recklinghausen / Municipal Art Gallery
Museum of Modern Art – Wörlen Foundation, Passau / Zehntscheuer Cultural Association, Rottenburg / Egon Schiele Center, Český Krumlov
Listasafn Íslands, Reykjavik / 23rd São Paulo Biennial (special exhibition)
National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires / Santiago / Montevideo
Múcsarnok, Budapest / National Gallery Prague, Trade Fair Palace
1993
Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück / Hessian State Museum, Darmstadt
Upper Austrian Art Association, Linz
1992
The Menil Collection, Houston
Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne
Carinthian State Gallery, Klagenfurt / Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana
Fundação de Serralves, Porto
1990
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
Municipal Museum of Modern Art, Bonn
Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken / Malmö Konsthall / Brandenburg Art Collections, Cottbus
1989
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
City Museum of Vienna
Castello di Rivoli – Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
Bregenz Festival Hall
Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia
(Additional years from 1988–1951 available upon request due to length)
Public Collections (Selection)
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Otto van de Loo donation)
Municipal Art Museum, Bonn
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
Kunsthalle Hamburg
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Tate Gallery, London
State Gallery of Modern Art, Munich
Lenbachhaus, Munich
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Rupertinum, Salzburg
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
CGAC – Galician Center for Contemporary Art, Santiago de Compostela
IVAM – Valencian Institute of Modern Art, Valencia
Museum Moderner Kunst / Museum of the 20th Century, Vienna
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid