ERNST FUCHS* (Vienna 1930 - 2015 Vienna)
Samson destroys the temple of Dagon, 1964
etching/paper, 31 x 53,4 cm
signed and dated in plate Fuchs Ernst, 1964 with signature stamp

ESTIMATE °€ 100 - 200
STARTING PRICE °€ 100

Ernst Fuchs was an Austrian painter, graphic artist, sculptor, set designer, composer and author. He is considered a co-founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus). As a child he received his first lessons in painting and drawing from the painter and restorer Alois Schiemann. He then received lessons in sculpture and painting from Emmy Steinboeck and Fritz Froehlich at the St. Anna painting school in Vienna. The young Ernst Fuchs' favorite painter was the Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens. From 1946 to 1950 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, first with Robin Christian Andersen and then with Albert Paris Guetersloh. In 1949 there was his first solo exhibition in Paris, where he moved in 1950. He traveled to America, Italy, Spain and England and in 1957 spent a long time in the Dormition Monastery on Mount Zion in Israel, where he worked on icon painting. In 1962 he returned to Vienna and received a professorship at the academy. Together with Wolfgang Hutter, Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner and Anton Lehmden, he is one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. In 1972 he acquired the Otto Wagner Villa and realized his architectural ideas around the Nymphaeum Omega fountain. In the 1970s, sculptures and opera sets for Parsifal, The Magic Flute and Lohengrin were created, as well as philosophical essays and poetry. Fuchs sang and played mystical songs and texts in which he also implemented his spiritual ideas. In the 1980s, his biblical, mystical and astrological works were shown at exhibitions in Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. He maintained friendships with, among others, Salvador Dali, Arno Breker, Mati Klarwein, Leonor Fini and Eva Nagy. In the 1990s he designed several buildings, such as the Thal parish church and a hotel complex in St. Veit an der Glan. Fuchs' works are initially characterized by a surrealistic and mannerist style; religious and mystical symbols often flow into his work. According to his own statement, many works are based on visionary experiences.

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