Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2007)

ANNUAL REPORT - A 2007. ÉV - KATA BODOR: A Magical Eccentric: The Art of Friedensreich Hundertwasser

A MAGICAL ECCENTRIC: THE ART OF FRIEDENSREICH HUNDERTWASSER 11 October, 2007 - 13 January, 2008 Curator: Kata Bodor KATA BODOR. HUNDERTWASSER: A MAGICAL ECCENTRIC. MUSEUM OF EINE ARTS. BUDAPEST 2007, HUNGARIAN AND ENGLISH TEXT. 184 PP.. 98 COL. ILLS. ISBN 978 963 7063 43 5 Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) was a unique figure in twentieth century art. Although the core of his oeuvre was represented by his painting throughout his career, he also approached many other fields of art with unabated enthusiasm and his desire to experiment. The numerous manifestations of his art were held together by a clearly recognisable idealism that governed his life as well as his art. It was as an architect that Hundertwasser became widely known, although he regarded himself primarily as a painter. However, by taking a close look at his works displayed at the exhibition, "A Magical Eccentric: The Art of Friedensreich Hundertwasser", it becomes manifestly clear that posterity is justified in recognising him as an architect, painter, graphic artist and even as an applied artist. Hundertwasser was not formally educated in any of these art forms: he left the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna after three months and spent even less of his time at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Leaving these institutes of education behind he resolved that his only tutor would be the world itself, which over a period of decades spent travelling he sought to thoroughly know and understand. His path took him all over Europe, North Africa, across Asia to Japan, Australia and New Zealand. During his travels he always painted. He felt at home regardless of where he was in the world and he ceaselessly called for the protection of nature and the valuable heritage of the built-up environment. He fought against the uniformity of buildings and the exclusion of greenery from urban areas. He followed up his words with action. From the early fifties he devoted himself to painting the frequent theme of which was a paradise on earth replete with plants, sunshine and "human" houses that he longed for and envisioned in his dreams; it was not until 1980 that he became active as an architect. His paintings came to life and took on a three dimensional reality in his buildings. Just as he had used all kinds of painting materials, he boldly experimented with materials on his buildings. Hundertwasser painted the facades as he had painted on paper. Than he stuck glass, tiles, coloured stones on them and finally planted trees, plants and grass on the roofs and in windows. He firmly believed in the so-called self-sustaining house, which