Friedrich Stowasser (15 December 1928 – 19 February 2000), better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (), was an Austrian visual artist and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection. Hundertwasser stood out as an opponent of "a straight line" and any standardization, expressing this concept in the field of building design. His best known work is the

Hundertwasserhaus The Hundertwasserhaus ("Hundertwasser house") is an apartment house in Vienna, Austria, built after the idea and concept of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Outline This expressionist landmark of Vienna is located in the Landstr ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, which has become a notable place of interest in the Austrian capital, characterised by imaginative vitality and uniqueness.

Biography

The Nazi era was a very difficult time for Hundertwasser and his mother Elsa, who were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. They avoided persecution by posing as Christians, a credible ruse as Hundertwasser's father had been a Catholic. Hundertwasser was baptized as a Catholic in 1935. To remain inconspicuous, Hundertwasser also joined the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

.Pawley, Martin
Friedensreich Hundertwasse – Maverick architect building against the grain
(obituary), ''The Guardian'', 14 April 2000. Retrieved 1 June 2009. Hundertwasser developed artistic skills early on. After the war, he spent three months at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. At this time, he began to sign his art as Hundertwasser instead of Stowasser. He left to travel, using a small set of paints he carried at all times to sketch anything that caught his eye. In Florence, he met the young French painter

René Brô René Brô (November 21, 1930 - December 6, 1986) was a French artist. Life and work René Brô was born in Charenton outside Paris. After finishing his schooling in 1944 by the age of fourteen, he began study art at different art schools. Parall ...

for the first time and they became lifelong friends. Hundertwasser's first commercial painting success was in 1952–53 with an exhibition in Vienna. Hundertwasser hannover 1965

His adopted surname is based on the translation of "sto" (the Slavic word for "(one) hundred") into German. The name ''Friedensreich'' has a double meaning as "Peace-realm" or "Peace-rich" (in the sense of "peaceful"). Therefore, his name ''Friedensreich Hundertwasser'' translates directly into English as "Peace-Realm Hundred-Water". The other names he chose for himself, ''Regentag'' and ''Dunkelbunt'', translate to "Rainy day" and "Darkly multi-coloured". In the early 1950s, he entered the field of architecture. Hundertwasser also worked in the field of applied art, creating flags, stamps, coins, and posters. His most famous flag is his koru flag (designed in 1983), as well as several postage stamps for the Austrian Post Office. He also designed stamps for

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

and for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

postal administration in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

. In 1957 Hundertwasser acquired a farm on the edge of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

.Erika Schmied, W. Schmied: ''Hundertwassers Paradiese. Das verborgene Leben des Friedrich Stowasser.'' Knesebeck, München 2003, . Hundertwasser married Herta Leitner in 1958 but they divorced two years later. He married again in 1962 to the Japanese artist Yuko Ikewada but she divorced him in 1966. By this time, he had gained a popular reputation for his art. In 1964 Hundertwasser bought "Hahnsäge", a former saw mill, in the sparsely populated Lower Austria's Waldviertel. There, far from the hustle and bustle and surrounded by nature, he set up a new home. He spent some time in the 1960s in the

Tooro Kingdom Tooro is a Bantu kingdom located within the borders of Uganda. The current Omukama of Toro is King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV took to the throne of Tooro kingdom in 1995 at the age of just thr ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, Central Africa, where he painted a number of works and named them after the kingdom. In 1972 Hundertwasser incorporated a stock company, the "Grüner Janura AG", in Switzerland; in 2008 it was renamed as "Namida AG". Hundertwasser managed his intellectual property rights through this company.Andreas Wetz
''Hundertwassers verschollenes Millionenerbe''
In: ''Die Presse.com.'', 9. Februar 2013. In the 1970s, Hundertwasser acquired several properties in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, which include a total area of approximately 372 ha of the entire "Kaurinui" valley. There he realized his dream of living and working closely connected to nature. Beside other projects he designed the "Bottle House" there. He could live largely self-sufficiently using solar panels, a water wheel and a biological water purification plant. His first grass roof experiments took place there. In 1979 Hundertwasser bought the vast historical garden '' Giardino Eden'' ('Garden of Eden') in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, including the Palazzo ''Villa delle Rose'', from Alexandra of Yugoslavia via his Swiss company.Francesco Basaldella: Giudecca – Fatti di Cronaca, Filippi Editore – Venezia, 2011, Quaderno di Cultura Giudecchina n.21(24), S. 252, 258–259 In 1980, Hundertwasser visited Washington D.C. to support activist

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

's efforts to oppose nuclear proliferation. Mayor Marion Barry declared 18 November to be Hundertwasser Day as a result. Hundertwasser planted trees in

Judiciary Square Judiciary Square is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., the vast majority of which is occupied by various federal and municipal courthouses and office buildings. Judiciary Square is located roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue to the sou ...

and advocated on behalf of a co-op apartment owner who was taken to court for installing a

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

. In 1982, Hundertwasser's only child, his daughter Heidi Trimmel, was born.Markus R. Leeb:
150 Millionen weg! Hundertwassers Tochter: "Ich wurde um mein Erbe betrogen (150 million away! Hundertwasser's daughter: "I was cheated out of my inheritance")"
'' In: ''News'', 1 August 2013. p. 16ff. Died on Saturday, February 19th 2000, in the Pacific, on board of Queen Elizabeth 2 from a heart attack. According to his wish he was buried in harmony with nature on his land in New Zealand, in the Garden of the Happy Dead under a Tulip Tree.

Artistic style and themes

Hundertwasser's original and unruly artistic vision expressed itself in pictorial art,

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seek ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

of facades,

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

s, and

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

(among other areas). The common themes in his work utilised bright colours, organic forms, a reconciliation of humans with nature, and a strong individualism, rejecting straight lines. He remains

sui generis ''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: * Biology, for species that do not fit in ...

, although his architectural work is comparable to

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalan architect from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, ''sui generis'' style. Most are located in Barcel ...

(1852–1926) in its use of

biomorphic Biomorphism models artistic design elements on naturally occurring patterns or shapes reminiscent of nature and living organisms. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices. History Within the c ...

forms and the use of tile. He was also inspired by the art of the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

, and by the Austrian painters

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portr ...

(1890–1918) and

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

(1862–1918). He was fascinated by

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are: He called his theory of art " transautomatism", focusing on the experience of the viewer rather than the artist. This was encapsulated by his design of a new flag for New Zealand, which incorporated the image of the

Koru The ''koru'' () is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the ide ...

a spiral shape based on the image of a new unfurling silver fern frond and symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace according to the

Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...

Architecture

Even though Hundertwasser first achieved notoriety for his boldly-coloured paintings, he is more widely known for his individual architectural designs. These designs use irregular forms, and incorporate natural features of the landscape. The ''

'' apartment block in Vienna has undulating floors ("an uneven floor is a melody to the feet"), a roof covered with earth and grass, and large trees growing from inside the rooms, with limbs extending from windows. He took no payment for the design of ''Hundertwasserhaus'', declaring that it was worth the investment to "prevent something ugly from going up in its place". From the early 1950s he increasingly focused on architecture, advocating more just human and environmental friendly buildings. This began with manifestos, essays and demonstrations. For example, he read out his "Mouldiness Manifesto against Rationalism in Architecture" in 1958 on the occasion of an art and architectural event held at the Seckau Monastery. He rejected the straight line and the functional architecture.see Wieland Schmied, Hundertwasser 1928–2000, Catalogue Raisonné, Köln: Taschen 2001/2002, Band 2, S. 1167 In Munich in 1967 he gave a lecture called "Speech in Nude for the Right to a Third Skin". His lecture "Loose from Loos, A Law Permitting Individual Buildings Alterations or Architecture-Boycott Manifesto", was given at the Concordia Press Club in Vienna in 1968. In the Mouldiness Manifesto he first claimed the "Window Right": "A person in a rented apartment must be able to lean out of his window and scrape off the masonry within arm's reach. And he must be allowed to take a long brush and paint everything outside within arm's reach. So that it will be visible from afar to everyone in the street that someone lives there who is different from the imprisoned, enslaved, standardised man who lives next door." In his nude speeches of 1967 and 1968 Hundertwasser condemned the enslavement of humans by the sterile grid system of conventional architecture and by the output of mechanised industrial production. He rejected rationalism, the straight line and functional architecture. For Hundertwasser, human misery was a result of the rational, sterile, monotonous architecture, built following the tradition of the Austrian architect Adolf Loos, author of the modernist manifesto '' Ornament and crime'' (1908). He called for a boycott of this type of architecture, and demanded instead creative freedom of building, and the right to create individual structures. In 1972 he published the manifesto ''Your window right — your tree duty''. Planting trees in an urban environment was to become obligatory: "If man walks in nature's midst, then he is nature's guest and must learn to behave as a well-brought-up guest." Hundertwasser propagated a type of architecture in harmony with nature in his ecological commitment. He campaigned for the preservation of the natural habitat and demanded a life in accordance with the laws of nature. He wrote numerous manifestos, lectured and designed posters in favor of nature protection, including against

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

, to save the oceans and the whales and to protect the rain forest. He was also an advocate of

composting toilet A composting toilet is a type of dry toilet that treats human waste by a biological process called composting. This process leads to the decomposition of organic matter and turns human waste into compost-like material. Composting is carried ou ...

s and the principle of constructed wetland. He perceived

feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

not as nauseous but as part of the cycle of nature. His beliefs are testified by his manifesto ''The Holy Shit'' and his DIY guide for building a composting toilet. In the 1970s, Hundertwasser had his first architectural models built. The models for the Eurovision TV-show "Wünsch Dir was" (Make a Wish) in 1972 exemplified his ideas on forested roofs, tree tenants and the window right. In these and similar models he developed new architectural shapes, such as the spiral house, the eye-slit house, the terrace house and the high-rise meadow house. In 1974, Peter Manhardt made models for him of the

pit-house A pit-house (or ''pit house'', ''pithouse'') is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, these structures may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a larder ...

, the grass roof house and the green service station – along with his idea of the invisible, inaudible Green Motorway. In the early 1980s Hundertwasser remodelled the Rosenthal Factory in Selb, and the Mierka Grain Silo in Krems. These projects gave him the opportunity to act as what he called an "architecture doctor". In architectural projects that followed he implemented window right and tree tenants, uneven floors, woods on the roof, and spontaneous vegetation. Works of this period include: housing complexes in Germany; a church in Bärnbach, Austria; a district heating plant in Vienna; an incineration plant and sludge centre in Osaka, Japan; a railway station in Uelzen; a winery in Napa Valley; and the

Hundertwasser toilet The Hundertwasser Toilets is a public toilet located at 60 Gillies Street, the main street of the town of Kawakawa in northern New Zealand. The structure was completed in 1999 and named after the architect and visual artist Friedensreich Hunde ...

Kawakawa, New Zealand Kawakawa is a small town in the Bay of Islands area of the Northland Region of New Zealand. Kawakawa developed as a service town when coal was found there in the 1860s, but coal mining ceased in the early 20th century. The economy is now based o ...

. In 1999 Hundertwasser started his last project named Die Grüne Zitadelle von Magdeburg (in German). Although he never completed this work, the building was built a few years later in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, a town in eastern Germany, and opened on 3 October 2005. ;Buildings *

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria * District Heating Plant, Spittelau, Vienna, Austria * Hundertwasserhaus Waldspirale,

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, Germany *

KunstHausWien The KunstHausWien is a museum in Vienna, designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This museum in the Landstraße district houses the world's only permanent exhibition of Hundertwasser's works, and also hosts regular temporary exhibit ...

, Vienna, Austria * ''Kindergarten Heddernheim'',

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

* Motorway Restaurant,

Bad Fischau-Brunn The market town of Bad Fischau-Brunn is an Austrian municipality in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in Lower Austria. It is situated some 50 km south of Vienna at the edge of Viennese Basin. Bad Fischau-Brunn is divided into two ''Katas ...

, Austria * Hot Springs Village,

Bad Blumau Bad Blumau is a municipality and spa town in the district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld in Styria, Austria. It has a large complex at the hot springs designed by architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser Friedrich Stowasser (15 December 1928 – 19 ...

, Austria * ''Hundertwasserkirche'',

Bärnbach Bärnbach is the smallest city of the district of Voitsberg in the Austrian state of Styria . The city is popular for its church (designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser), manual glass manufacturing and coal mining (surface mining). Today the coal ...

, Austria * Markthalle,

Altenrhein Thal is a village and municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides the village of Thal itself, the municipality also includes the villages of Altenrhein, Buechen, Buriet and St ...

, Switzerland * ''Wohnen unterm Regenturm'',

Plochingen Plochingen ( Swabian: ''Blocheng'' or ''Blochenga'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stutt ...

, Germany * Quixote Winery, Napa Valley, United States, 1988–1998 (his only building in the US) * Maishima Incineration Plant,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan, 1997–2000 *

, Kawakawa, New Zealand, 1999 * Hundertwasser "environmental railway station", Uelzen, Germany, 1999–2001 * ''Die Grüne Zitadelle von Magdeburg'',

, Germany, 2003–2005 * ''Ronald McDonald Kinder Vallei'', Valkenburg aan de Geul, Netherlands * Kuchlbauer-Turm,

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situated on the river Abens, a tributary of the ...

, Germany, 2008–2010 An art gallery featuring Hundertwasser's work will be established in a council building in Whangārei, New Zealand, and will bring to fruition his 1993 plans for improving the building.

Paintings

* 1959 – Kaaba-League of legends, die halbe Insel,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Collection Poppe * 1954 – Hundertwasser develops the Transautomatism art theory. * 1967 – " Kingdom of the Toro" series * various ''

Furoshiki are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods. Consideration is placed on the aesthetics of , which may feature hemmed edges, thicker and more expensive materials, and hand-painted designs; h ...

'' designs

Stamps and medals

The extensive work of Hundertwasser includes 26 stamps for various postal administrations. Seventeen of these designs were – in part after his death – implemented as a postage stamp. * Austria ** Modern Art in Austria, 1975 ** Council of Europe Summit, Vienna, 1993 ** 80th Birthday Friedensreich Hundertwasser (4 stamps in the form of a block), 2008 * Senegal – art on stamps (3 stamps), 1979 * Cape Verde Islands – Shipping, 1982 (printed but not issued), 1985 (issued with overprint) * United Nations Postal Administration (Vienna, Geneva and New York ) – 35th Anniversary of the

(6 stamps), 1983 * Liechtenstein – Homage to Liechtenstein, 1993 Two of the unrealized designs are alternative designs for a stamp issue (United Nations, Senegal) and were therefore not performed. Seven other designs created for the postal administrations of Morocco and French Polynesia were not realized as a postage stamp. In addition, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, has adapted some of his works for stamp issues. On the basis of these adaptations have been stamps issued by: * France – 2 badges for € Europe, 1994 * United Nations Postal Administration (Vienna, Geneva and New York) – Social Summit (3 stamps), 1995 * Luxembourg – European Capital of Culture (3 stamps), 1995 * Liechtenstein – EXPO 2000 in Hanover (3 stamps), 2000 The Austrian post office used more Hundertwasser motives for the European edition 1987 (Modern architecture, Hundertwasser House), on the occasion of his death in 2000 (painting Blue Blues, under the WIPA 2000) and 2004 National Donauauen (poster: ''The outdoors is our freedom'' at civil protests in Hainburg). For the first time a Hundertwasser motive was also used on a Cuban stamp, as part of the art exhibition Salon de Mayo (

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, 1967). With the exception of service marks for the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

and the Cuban stamp, all stamps were engraved by Wolfgang Seidel and by the Austrian State Printing Office in a complex combination printing process produces (intaglio printing, rotogravure printing, as well as metal stamping). Hundertwasser also worked as a medallist.

Books

* In 1989 Brockhaus released a 24-volume limited special edition of its encyclopedia with 1800 pieces, entirely designed by Hundertwasser. Each individual cover of this edition varies in colour of the linen as well as in the colours of foil stamping, making each copy a unique piece. "No band, no cover I designed the encyclopedia is equal to the other. Nevertheless, they attack each other with all their differences and come together to form an overall picture. This is networking among themselves a symbol of knowledge, the Brockhaus gives." (F. Hundertwasser) * Stowasser: Latin-German school dictionary of Joseph Maria Stowasser. For the newly published 1994 edition of the dictionary "Little Stowasser" Hundertwasser-designed textile bindings in 100 different colour variations. * Bible. 1995, Size: 20x28, 5 cm, 1688 pages, 80 full-page images, including 30 collages, the hundreds of water specifically for this Bible – Edition has created. Each Bible is characterized by a different colour combination of linen textiles. Also the specimens differ in the bright shining metal colour imprints. Each cover is made mainly by hand.

Political views

Beginning in the 1950s Hundertwasser traveled globally promoting ecological causes. In 1959 Hundertwasser got involved with helping the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

escape from

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

by campaigning for the Tibetan religious leader in Carl Laszlo's magazine ''Panderma''. In later years, when he was already a known artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser became an

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advoc ...

and most recently operated as a more prominent opponent of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, advocating the preservation of regional peculiarities. Among the lesser-known facets of Hundertwasser's personality is his commitment to

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

Austria needs something to look up to, consisting of perennial higher valuesof which one now hardly dares to speaksuch as beauty, culture, internal and external peace, faith, richness of heart ..Austria needs an emperor, who is subservient to the people. A superior and radiant figure in whom everyone has confidence, because this great figure is a possession of all. The rationalist way of thinking has brought us, in this century, an ephemeral higher, American standard of living at the expense of nature and creation, which is now coming to an end, for it is destroying our heart, our quality of life, our longing, without which an Austrian does not want to live. It is outrageous that Austria has an emperor who did no evil to anyone but is still treated like a leper. Austria needs a crown! Long live Austria! Long live the constitutional monarchy! Long live Otto von Habsburg!
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser, ''Für die Wiederkehr der konstitutionellen Monarchie'' (For the Return of the
Constitutional Monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
).Hundertwasser's German term ''konstitutionelle Monarchie'' (constitutional monarchy) refers to a form of monarchy in which the monarch still has considerable influence in day-to-day politics, while the form in which the monarch is only a figurehead is called ''parlamentarische Monarchie'' (parliamentary monarchy).
Kaurinui, New Zealand, 28 March 1983; dedicated, on 14 May 1987, to Otto von Habsburg for his 75th birthday.

Influence

Hundertwasser Monument for 1990 (24686368809)

* In New Zealand his design beliefs have been adopted by a New Zealand terracotta tile manufacturer, who promotes his style as "Organic Tiling". The tiling is designed by Chris Southern, who worked with Hundertwasser on the Kawakawa toilets. In 2022 an art gallery opened in Whangarei, New Zealand, styled on his methods and including his artwork. * In 1987, at the request of

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

, British designer and illustrator Richard Evans produced a homage to Hundertwasser for the cover of Public Image Limited's album '' Happy?''.

Awards

* 1959: Sanbra prize at the São Paulo Biennale, V. * 1961: Mainichi Prize in Tokyo * 1980: Grand Austrian State Prize for Visual Arts * 1981: Austrian Nature Protection Award * 1982: Award-winning Author of the year * 1985: Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres * 1988: Gold Medal of the City of Vienna * 1988: Gold Medal of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

* 1997:

Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

Documentary films

Ferry Radax Ferry Radax (20 June 1932 – 9 September 2021) was an Austrian film maker born in Vienna, Austria. Career Radax was active in many genres since 1949. He studied at Vienna's Film Institute in 1953–54, followed by ''Cinecittà'', Centro Sperime ...

: ''Hundertwasser – Leben in Spiralen'' (Hundertwasser – life in spirals, 1966). Ferry Radax first documentary on his fellow-countryman. * Ferry Radax: ''Hundertwasser in Neuseeland'' (Hundertwasser in New Zealand, 1998). After 30 years Ferry Radax made a second portrait of the artist. *

Peter Schamoni Peter Schamoni (27 March 1934 – 14 June 2011) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed 35 films between 1957 and 2011. His 1966 film '' No Shooting Time for Foxes'' was entered into the 16th Berlin Internation ...

: ''Hundertwasser Regentag'' (

Hundertwasser's Rainy Day ''Hundertwasser's Rainy Day'' (german: Hundertwassers Regentag) is a 1972 West German short documentary film about artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser rebuilding an old wooden ship called Regentag (Rainy Day). Directed by Peter Schamoni, it was ...

, 1972). An award-winning German documentary about the artist rebuilding an old wooden ship called ''Regentag'' (Rainy Day).

Literature

Catalogue raisonné

* Hundertwasser, Vollständiger Oeuvre-Katalog publiziert aus Anlass der 100. Ausstellung der Kestner-Gesellschaft, Text by Wieland Schmied (ed.), with 100 coloured reproductions. Kestner-Gesellschaft Hannover, Hanover, 1964 * David Kung (ed.), The Woodcut Works of Hundertwasser 1960–1975, Glarus: Gruener Janura AG, 1977 * Walter Koschatzky, Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The complete graphic work 1951–1986. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1986. * Hundertwasser 1928–2000. Catalogue raisonné. Vol. I: Wieland Schmied: Personality, Life, Work. Vol. II: Andrea Fürst: Catalogue raisonné. Cologne: Taschen, 2000/2002 * Hundertwasser Graphic Works 1994–2000, Vienna: Museums Betriebs Gesellschaft, 2001

Monographs

* Werner Hofmann, Hundertwasser, Salzburg: Verlag Galerie Welz, 1965 (German and English editions) * Francois Mathey, Hundertwasser, Naefels: Bonfini Press Corporation, 1985 * Harry Rand, Hundertwasser, Cologne: Taschen, 1991 (reprint 2018) * Pierre Restany, Hundertwasser. The Power of Art – The Painter-King with the Five Skins, Cologne: Taschen, 1998 * Hundertwasser 1928–2000, Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. 1 by Wieland Schmied: Personality, Life, Work, Vol. 2 by Andrea Christa Fürst: Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne: Taschen, 2000/2002 * Pierre Restany, Hundertwasser, New York: Parkstone, 2008

Architectural monographs

* Robert Schediwy, Hundertwassers Häuser. Dokumente einer Kontroverse über zeitgemäße Architektur. Vienna: Edition Tusch, 1999, . * Hundertwasser Architecture, For a more human architecture in harmony with nature, Cologne: Taschen, 1997 (reprint 2018)

Exhibitions

* Hundertwasser Malerei, Art Club, Vienna, 1952 * Studio Paul Facchetti, Paris, 1954 * Galerie H. Kamer, Paris, 1957 * Rétrospective Hundertwasser 1950–1960, Galerie Raymond Cordier, Paris, 1960 * Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, 1961 * Hundertwasser ist ein Geschenk für Deutschland, Galerie Änne Abels, Cologne, 1963 * Travelling Exhibition 1964/65, Hundertwasser: Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover; Kunsthalle Bern; Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Museum, Hagen; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna * Travelling Exhibition 1968/69: USA, Hundertwasser; University Art Museum, Berkeley; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Arts Club of Chicago; The Galerie St. Etienne, New York; The Phillips Collection, Washington DC * Galerie Brockstedt, Hamburg, 1968/1969 * Aberbach Fine Art, New York, 1973 * Travelling Exhibition 1973/74, Hundertwasser 1973 New Zealand, City of Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth; The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington; City Art Gallery, Christchurch; City Art Gallery, Dunedin * Travelling Exhibition, Hundertwasser 1974 Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Albert Hall, Canberra; Opera, Sydney * Stowasser 1943 bis Hundertwasser 1974, Albertina, Vienna, 1974 * Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1975 * Austria Presents Hundertwasser to the Continents. The World Travelling Museum Exhibition took place in 43 museums in 27 countries from 1975 to 1983. * Hundertwasser. Das gesamte graphische Werk, Tapisserien, Mönchehaus-Museum für Moderne Kunst, Goslar, Germany, 1978 * Hundertwasser Tapisserien, Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, 1979 * Travelling Exhibition 1979–1981, Hundertwasser Is Painting, Aberbach Fine Art, New York; Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo; Galerie Brockstedt, Hamburg; Hammerlunds Kunsthandel; Galerie Würthle, Vienna * Hundertwasser – Sérigraphies, eaux fortes, gravures sur bois japonaises, lithographies, Artcurial, Paris, 1980 * Hundertwasser – Peintures Récentes, Artcurial, Paris, 1982 * Paintings by Hundertwasser, Aberbach Fine Art, New York, 1983 * Hundertwasser – Kunst und Umwelt, Mönchehaus-Museum für Moderne Kunst, Goslar, Germany, 1984 * Hundertwasser à Tahiti – Gravure, Musée Gauguin, Tahiti, 1985/1986 * Hundertwasser – Aus dem graphischen Werk, BAWAG Foundation, Vienna, 1986 * Travelling exhibition 1989: Japan, Hundertwasser; Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Tokyo; Iwaki City Art Museum, Fukushima; Ohara Museum of Art, Okayama * Friedensreich Hundertwasser – Originale, Objekte, Gobelins, Graphiken, Galerie am Lindenplatz, Schaan, Liechtenstein, 1993 * Hundertwasser – Important works, Landau Fine Art, Montreal, 1994/1995 * Friedensreich Hundertwasser – Die Waagerechte gehört der Natur, Mönchehaus-Museum für Moderne Kunst, Goslar, Germany, 1997 * Hundertwasser Retrospektive, Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany, 1998 * Travelling Exhibition 1998/99: Japan, Hundertwasser; Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo; Museum "EKi", Kyoto; Sakura City Museum of Art, Chiba * Travelling Exhibition 1999: Japan, Hundertwasser Architecture – For a More Human Architecture in Harmony With Nature, Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu; Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya; Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe; The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama * Hundertwasser – Peintures Parcours Rétrospectif, Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, 1999/2000 * Hundertwasser Gedächtnisausstellung, Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Austria, 2000 * Hundertwasser 1928–2000, Russeck Gallery, Palm Beach, 2000 * Hundertwasser-Architektur – Von der Utopie zur Realität, KunstHausWien, Vienna, 2000/2001 * Hommage à Hundertwasser 1928–2000, Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, Alençon, France, 2001 * Hundertwasser. Kunst – Mensch – Natur, Minoritenkloster, Tulln and Egon Schiele-Museum, Tulln, Lower Austria, 2004 * Hundertwasser. Fantastische Architectuur, Kunsthal Rotterdam, 2004 * Travelling Exhibition 2005/06: Germany, Friedensreich Hundertwasser – Ein Sonntagsarchitekt. Gebaute Träume und Sehnsüchte; Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), Frankfurt; Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen, Schloss Gottorf; Kunstforum der

Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall AG () is a building society in Germany, active abroad with subsidiaries in Eastern Europe and China. It has more than 10 million customers. Shareholders are the cooperative central bank DZ Bank (96.8 percent) in Fra ...

AG, Schwäbisch Hall; Städtische Museen Zwickau, Kunstsammlungen, Zwickau * Travelling Exhibition 2006/07: Japan, Remainders of an Ideal. The Visions and Practices of HUNDERTWASSER, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Musee d`art Mercian Karuizawa; Mitsukoshi Museum, Tokyo; Shimonoseki Museum, Yamaguchi * The Art of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. A Magical Eccentric, Szépmüvészeti Museum, Budapest, 2007/2008 * Hundertwasser. La raccolta dei sogni, Art Forum Würth, Capena near Rome, 2008 * Hundertwasser – Jüdische Aspekte, Jüdisches Museum Rendsburg, Julius-Magnus Haus, Rendsburg, Germany, 2008 * Hundertwasser. In Harmonie mit der Natur, Minoritenkloster, Tulln, Austria, 2008 * "den Cherub betören". Friedensreich Hundertwasser und die Sehnsucht des Menschen nach dem Paradies, Christuskirche in Mainz and Landesmuseum Mainz, Germany, 2008 * Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar, France, 2008 * The Yet Unknown Hundertwasser, KunstHausWien, Vienna, 2008/2009 * H U N D E R T W A S S E R. Symbiose von Technik, Ökologie und Kunst. Die Wiedergutmachung an Industriegebäuden, Fernwärme Wien, Vienna, 2009 * Hundertwasser-Pfad durch die Fernwärme Wien, Vienna, 2009 * HUNDERTWASSER 2010 IN SEOUL, Seoul Arts Center – Design Museum, Seoul, Korea, 2010/2011 * Hundertwasser – The Art of the Green Path, 20 years KunstHausWien anniversary exhibition, KunstHausWien, Austria, 2011 * Hundertwasser – Le Rêve de la couleur, Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, France, 2012 * Friedensreich Hundertwasser: Against the Grain. Works 1949–1970. Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany, 2012/2013 * Hundertwasser – Japan and the Avant-garde. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Unteres Belvedere/Orangerie, Vienna, 2013 * Dans la peau de Hundertwasser, Museé en Herbe, Paris, 2014 * HUNDERTWASSER: DE RECHTE LIJN IS GODDELOOS, Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen, Netherlands, 2013/2014 * Hundertwasser, Arken Museum, Ishøj, Denmark, 2014 * Friedensreich Hundertwasser – Die Ernte der Träume, Sammlung Würth, Forum Würth Arlesheim, Switzerland, 2017 * Hundertwasser – Lebenslinien, Osthaus Museum Hagen, Hagen, Germany, 2015 * Hundertwasser. Schön & Gut, Buchheim Museum, Bernried, Germany, 2016/2017 * Hundertwasser – The green city, Sejong Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, 2016/2017 * Hundertwasser – En route pour le bonheur!, Musée de Millau et de Grands Causses, Millau, Frankreich, 2018

Collections

*Akademie der bildenden Künste, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, Austria *Akademie der bildenden Künste, Kupferstichkabinett, Vienna, Austria *Albertina, Vienna, Austria *Albertina, Vienna – Sammlung Essl *Albertina, Vienna – Sammlung Batliner *Artothek des Bundes, Vienna, Austria *

Belvedere Museum Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

, Austria. *

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

, New York, USA *Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France *Cincinnati Art Museum, USA *Erzbischöfliches Dom- und Diözesanmuseum, Vienna, Austria *Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany *Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden, Norway *Herbert Liaunig Privatstiftung, Austria *Hilti Foundation, Liechtenstein *Iwaki City Art Museum, Japan *KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg, Denmark *Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany *KunstHausWien, Museum Hundertwasser, Vienna, Austria *KunstHausVienna, Museum Hundertwasser, Vienna, Austria *Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Germany *Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark *MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria *McMaster Museum of Art, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada *Mishkan Le'Omanut, Museum of Art, Ein-Harod, Israel *MUMOK – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria *

Muscarelle Museum of Art The Muscarelle Museum of Art is a university museum affiliated with the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. While the Museum only dates to 1983, the university art collection has been in existence since its first gift – a portr ...

, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA *Musée d'Art moderne, Troyes, France *Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago de Chile *Museo del Novecento, Collezione Boschi di Stefano, Milan, Italy *Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain *Museu de Arte Contemporanea da USP, São Paulo, Brasil *Museum der Moderne – Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria *Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York *Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Museum Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, Graphische Sammlung, Germany *muzej moderne i suvremene umjetnosti – museum of modern and contemporary art, Rijeka, Croatia *Nagoya City Art Museum, Japan *

National Gallery of Art, Washington The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

*Nationalgalerie Prag / Narodni galerie v Praze, Czech Republic *Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Kopenhagen, Denmark *Ohara Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan *Osthaus Museum Hagen, Germany *Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy *Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany *Saint Louis University, USA *Sammlung Würth, Künzelsau, Germany *San Diego Museum of Art, USA *

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, USA *

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, New York, USA *Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, USA *Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hanover, Germany *Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark *Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands *Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany *Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Japan *The Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection, Yerevan, Armenia *The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, USA *The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA *The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA *The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Japan *Wien Museum, Vienna, Austria

Notes

References

Sources * Harry Rand (2007). ''Hundertwasser 25th''. .

External links

Website of Hundertwasser Foundation

Hundertwasser Online Encyclopedia

On Hundertwasser

Hundertwasserhaus website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hundertwasser, Friedensreich 1928 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Austrian painters Austrian emigrants to New Zealand Austrian male painters Abstract painters Austrian male sculptors Austrian architects Austrian performance artists Expressionist architects Organic architecture Green thinkers Austrian stamp designers Flag designers Austrian expatriates in New Zealand Austrian Roman Catholics Austrian people of Jewish descent Artists from Vienna People who died at sea Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni People from Kawakawa, New Zealand Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize 20th-century Austrian sculptors Austrian monarchists Hitler Youth members 20th-century Austrian male artists