(Vienna 1938–2022 Mistelbach, Lower Austria)
Splatter painting with chemise and impasto painting, signed and dated hermann nitsch 1997 on the reverse, oil on burlap,189 x 280 cm, stretched over wooden frame

Photo of this work signed hermann nitsch on the reverse available.

Provenance:
Finarte, Venice
Private Collection, Italy

… those fleeing shallowness, intensity do not want to recognise themselves; real, deep, drunken, existential, ecstatic joy, which ascends to the raptures of the mysticism of being, showers of happiness of joie de vivre are alien to them. They are also unable to experience the abysmal, ghastly suffering that they provoke and cause, the instincts for this suffering have been lost to them. The tragedy of the ghastly abysses of suffering, to which we are necessarily exposed, also remains hidden from them, for the time being, through the narcosis of appearance. When confronted with the necessity of suffering imposed on us, they cry out like wounded animals and do not want to accept the fact of pain, death and tragedy: this shows them the truth and reality, the raptures of existence and the absurd spaces of the depths of tragic suˆering. They pillory those who call for unreserved intensity, giving rise to the revelation and experience of the reality of being.
There should be no misunderstanding that I strive to glorify suffering through my world view and my work. On the contrary, I say yes to life from the bottom of my heart; life should become a celebration of life. Suffering should be avoided and alleviated wherever possible. Suffering should be abolished. …
Hermann Nitsch
from: Reizwort Nitsch, (preface) Sonderzahl 1995