Hermann Nitsch

The 20th painting action of the Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch took place in February of 1987 in the Vienna Secession and marked a pinnacle of his artistic work. The splashed-paintings that were created in those days are all part of the private collection Helmut Essl, so they are still kept together. This was very important to the artist, as he mentioned several times. All works were presented in 2022 as a part of the 59th Biennale in Venice. Our artwork is a relic from this project. The floor of the Secession was covered in light grey cardboard and thin linen sheets. Per Nitschs’ instruction the sheets were cut, partially reworked and often signed, as is the case here. The goal was to preserve the events, since the relics stand as witnesses to the projects. Nitsch has done so since 1963 and preserved all his projects in such relics. As the main representative of “Viennese Actionism” Hermann Nitsch views painting as the origin and at the same time as a result of his painting projects. This dynamic can also be seen in this artwork. Whereas shoeprints tell about the events of the project, paint runs down the canvas on the left side, which is also typical for his painting style. The way the paint makes when flowing can’t be planned, so the paint on the far left is more a timid dripping, whereas the bottom center is reminiscent of wild flowing rivers. The artworks are supposed to speak to all senses of the viewer. For Nitsch, the colour red is tightly intertwined with human life. It reminds of the beginning and the end, life and death. Starting in 1962 he often replaced the colour with blood. A tradition that also continued in the project at the Secession. The brown and ochre are traces of the dried-up blood.