avant-garde artist hermann nitsch, known for his works of flesh, blood and viscera, dies at 83

Hermann Nitsch: 1938 – 2022

Hermann Nitsch, a pioneer artist of Vienna’s avant-garde scene in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away in peace yesterday, April 18, 2022, after a serious illness at the age of 83. Born in Vienna on August 29, 1938, Nitsch is regarded as one of the most versatile contemporary artists, whose practice ranged from performance, to painting, composing (symphonies, organ concerts), and set design. The artist is known for staging radical and controversial performances as part of the Viennese Actionism movement, of which he was a crucial founder. His performances and paintings often incorporated blood, flesh and viscera, among other materials. His painting actions first took place in the 1950s, when he conceived his famed Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries (O.M.Theatre), a provocative, intensive sensory experience of various substances and fluids.

‘I demand from my audience direct sensory experience. the play had directives telling them to taste, smell, look, listen and touch. flesh, innards and fruit were given to the audience to touch and feel. odours were spread, incense and other materials were burnt, liquids like blood, fuel, vinegar, milk, urine, petrol, turpentine, ammoniac, hot water were poured throughout the theatre venue. all this led to the theatre of orgies and mysteries, which surpassed language. from now on real events taking place in the present were to be staged,’ writes Nitsch as part of his biography.

56th painting action | Nitsch museum, Mistelbach | 2009 ©Daniel Feyerl

THE ARTIST’S 20th Painting Action AT THE 2022 VENICE BIENNALE

In 1971, Hermann Nitsch acquired the Prinzendorf Castle in Lower Austria from the Catholic Church, which allowed him to also realize his musical ideas for his theatre in large-scale action performances. Noise orchestras, scream choirs and electronically amplified instruments all played a part. Since then, the artist lived and worked 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. Over the course of his career, Nitsch has exhibited work at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Leopold Museum, Vienna; the Albertina Museum, Vienna; and other institutions worldwide. His performances have also been staged internationally at venues in Vienna, New York, London, Havana, Leipzig, Hobart, and elsewhere. You can find detailed biography in the artist’s own words, as well as a list of all actions, painting actions, concert performances and much more here.

Hermann Nitsch’s 20th Painting Action is on view until July 20, 2022, at Oficine 800 on the island of Giudecca, Venice, during the 59th Venice Biennale. Presented by Zuecca Projects and collector Helmut Essl, this marks the artist’s only painting action in which all the works remain in one collection to be shown together for the first time in Italy since being created and exhibited at the Wiener Secession, Vienna in 1987. Find out more here.

‘To me Hermann Nitsch was one of world’s greatest artists, and I am thankful for the profound impact his work has had on me and so many others. The fact that Hermann passed on the day that I show him my greatest appreciation with the opening of his ‘20th painting action’ during the Venice Biennale makes me do even more what I’ve started in Venice right now — bring his art even closer to the world. Bon voyage, my friend Hermann,’ says Helmut Essl, the private collector presenting Hermann Nitsch, ‘20th painting action’ during the 2022 Venice Biennale.