Hundertwasser world: A character who puts colors and dreams around the world.

Hundertwasser

Hundertwasser was opponent of the „geometric“ straight line in architecture (the line drawn with a ruler). But being opponent to straight line concerns also all effects of standardization, uniformity etc. So being against the straight line is not just for design, it is an attitude to life and society.

913 KUNSTHAUSWIEN, 1989

When to speak about Hundertwasser*s early travels to North Africa, Italy and France, he nourrished his creativity, his ability of perception. Travel and all expériences were really important to him. Maybe like a laboratory, new ideas, new visions to improuve his art. He developed his art during his early travels, through the experience of different countries, different culture, different climate, different colours and sun and different people. And at the same he remembered his roots, coming from Vienna and being under the strong influence of the expressionist Egon Schiele.

DIE REGENBOGENSPIRALE VON VALKENBURG , 2006

CATHEDRAL I - Watercolour, Marakesch, 1951

TALKS WITH THE BEYOND Etching, Vienna 1984

TALKS WITH THE BEYOND - Etching, Vienna, 1984

A very special travel was when he went to Japan in 1961 for the first time and got a strong connection to Japan, appreciating Japanese culture and art. He started to work with Japanese woodcut printers. See with eyes from a Austrian. A many artists also wre influenced by this country like Emile Bernard, Monet or Van Gogh. A western look at the eastern world. Hundertwasser was curius about everything. Sharing experiences, and a lot of projects like films. He coopored with film makers twice.

All images: (c) 2020 Namida AG, Glarus, Switzerland

„MOP“ MAISHIMA MÜLLVERBRENNUNGSANLAGE, 1997 ,Vienna, 1952

In French we would say that he was a „touche à tout“, he also collaborated by designing for posters, or stamps, he also redesigned the facade of the Rosenthal factory.

1004 Twins, Watercolour, Venice, 1994, unfinished

In 1966 with the experimental film maker Ferry Radax for a rather exceptional film portrait which featured Hundertwasser*s ideas about art and living an independent creative life. In 1972 Hundertwasser made a film with Peter Schamoni, a complete different film showing Hundertwasser with his ship „REgentag“ which he acquired in 1972 as a salt hauler and rebuilt it - his first experience in architecture. It is a very poetic film showing Hundertwasser mainly in Venice, his domicile of the 1960ies, with the importance of water and the poetic life on the sea.

Another project from Hundertwasser take him New Zealand to live a life in harmony with nature. He bought a farm and planted 100.000 trees there to give territories back to nature. To restitute spontaneous vegetation. He used a humus toilet there and plant purification plant. Hundertwasser even used solar energy at an early stage. A simple life in nature.

He cared much about identity and tradition. This is the reason why he designed flags and stamps. They are signs of identity.

If you‘re in Vienna, I‘m sure you‘ll want to visit the Hundertwasserhaus. It is worth the visit.

Hundertwasser created his first environment poster for the Conservation Week in New Zealand and he was awarded with the Conservation Award

Hundertwasser created environmental posters and dedicated the sales revenues to environmental organisations.

His architectural work again comes from a different source. He criticized rationalism and functionalism of modern architecture, he plead for an architecture in harmony with nature. He started as an „architecture doctor“, but more than 30 architectural projects were realised from the 1980ies onwards.

He lived in Venice, in Giardino Eden. In the house of the gardener, not at the palace… Why ? Because the important was the garden. Hundertwasser protected the garden and he gave this garden back to nature, also by planting trees and tolerating spontaneous vegetation.

We can talk also about Rosenthal Factory maybe not so important but it was a first redesign of a facade and planting trees. HW planted trees all over the world, in many environmental campaigns. One of the campaigns was the salvation of the forest of Hainburg in Austria, east of Vienna. He tore his state prize protesting against the policies of the federal government.

Hundertwasser was very interested in book design. He designed many of his exhibition catalogues and created bibliophile books. Last but not least we can forget to talking about the incinerators in Vienna and Osaka. Just he could imagine make incinerators like Disney castle tower! Now they are like a tourists spots. And they are also a tecnology, ecology and art. We can finalized to say does he buildings with hart, art and looking for a harmony with nature. Single, special and you must go to see his museum in Vienna.

Hundertwasser died on board of QE 2, on the way FROM New Zealand to Europe.

Hundertwasser was opponent of the „geometric“ straight line in architecture (the line drawn with a ruler).

When to speak about Hundertwasser*s early travels to North Africa, Italy and France, he nourrished his creativity, his ability of perception. Travel and all expériences were really important to him. Maybe like a laboratory, new ideas, new visions to improuve his art. He developed his art during his early travels, through the experience of different countries, different culture, different climate, different colours and sun and different people. And at the same he remembered his roots, coming from Vienna and being under the strong influence of the expressionist Egon Schiele.