© Manfred Thumberger

Annual exhibition 01.07.2020 - 12.09.2021

The nitsch museum Mistelbach is presenting the exhibition "Hermann Nitsch - New Works". On display will be some 80 large-format paintings by the universal artist from the two new painting periods, the 81st and 82nd painting performance. They were all created in the period between July 2019 and April 2020. These current works captivate with completely new, bright colour compositions, inspired by peonies and other spring flowers. Visualisations of the Nitsch symphonies will be on display in the chapel of the museum area.

It gives me great joy to concentrate on the flower-coloured luminosity of the smeared colour substance in my work, which i am still able to produce at the age of eighty. more than ever, resurrection is a principle for me. (2019)
Hermann Nitsch

When he saw the new works, Michael Karrer, the artistic director of the nitsch museum, said: "I was overwhelmed. Nitsch used the colours of the flowers and wanted to capture not only their colour palette, but rather the light of these flowers. Colour tones of light were created, which complemented the usual opulent colour substance."

In this exhibition, Hermann Nitsch surprises with a sumptuous colour palette of bright shades, in which intense colour clusters with a relief-like feel meet with a transcendental lightness. An unmistakable resurrection cycle has emerged in the work of Hermann Nitsch. Together with works from other disciplines and the painting cycles, the nitsch museum shows a complete installation of new works by the universal artist.

"Nitsch’s painting has become much more life-affirming and joyful in recent years, and this can also be seen in the areas of his music and performances.  His current work is alert, wise and mature, intense, concentrated, pure and, to some extent, "light" at the same time. Just as Nitsch strives for a music of the spheres in his music, in his painting he bundles the light of the colours because colours and light are a matter of resurrection for Nitsch," 

explains Michael Karrer in the introduction to the catalogue that is published for the exhibition.

The presentation in the chapel of the museum area is dedicated to the music of Hermann Nitsch. In cooperation with the Acoustics Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, symphonies by the artist are visualised with the help of a spectrogram. The individual tones and their frequencies are displayed graphically in the form of lines. The vertical axis shows the time response of the tones, the horizontal axis shows the corresponding frequency response.

Hermann Nitsch

was born on 29 August 1938 in Vienna. He is among the most important representatives of Viennese Actionism and is one of the most versatile contemporary artists: actionist, painter, graphic artist, composer (symphonies, organ concerts), stage designer. Nitsch is considered the enfant terrible of the Austrian art scene and is known for his use of animal carcasses, blood and parts of slaughtered animals. His entire oeuvre the Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries demonstrates the broad spectrum of his art and requires the audience to use all five senses.

"My work should be a school of life, perception and sensation, experienced with all five senses."

The award-winning artist Hermann Nitsch lives and works today at his castle in Prinzendorf an der Zaya, Lower Austria and in Asolo, Italy. His works are exhibited in two monographic museums in Mistelbach and Naples as well as in the Nitsch Foundation in Vienna and in the most prestigious international museums and galleries.

A detailed biography as well as a list of all performances, painting performances, concert performances and much more can be found at www.nitsch.org<http://www.nitsch.org>

The nitsch museum Mistelbach

The nitsch museum in Mistelbach/Lower Austria is one of the largest monographic museums in Austria. Since it opened in 2007, the comprehensive artistic work of Hermann Nitsch has been presented in annually changing exhibitions. The artist himself lives and works in the region. Parallel to the exhibitions, the museum invites visitors to accompanying panel discussions, talks, workshops, etc. The former factory site was adapted as a museum by the team of architects archipel architektur + kommunikation in collaboration with the artist and built as a kind of monastery complex.

The opening of the nitsch museum is being carried out in strict compliance with the prescribed distancing and hygiene rules; face masks must be worn indoors.