Arnulf Rainer is one of the most important and controversial Austrian artists of the post-war period. As early as the 1950s, he belonged to a circle of creative artists who radically disagreed with the social and political conservatism and classbased thinking of their times. Between 1940 and 1944, Rainer went to an elite Napola Nazi school in Traiskirchen, but dropped out at the age of 14 when he was forced to paint nature scenes. He dropped out of studies at the Viennese Academy of Applied Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna after a few days because of disagreements with his teachers. In the early 1950s, he began painting fantastic, surreal works in the abstract art informel style. Rainer settled in an unfurnished, abandoned villa in Lower Austria.
At first, due to a lack of funds, so Rainer began to paint over other artists’ paintings without permission. This technique later became the core aspect of his work. At roughly the same time, he began to “cover” paintings with black paint. He would continue this till the late 1950s. This is the genesis of his later overpainting work. Rainer has gone on to choose his own and other people’s bodies as the basis for overpainting. When he drew and painted, he allowed himself to be filmed while intoxicated by alcohol and drugs, testing his suppressed, controlled instincts. These forbidden performances were often interrupted by the police.
His attitude towards artistic powers of anger, delusion, dreams, and the subconscious drove him to dwell on the subject of death. This main motif had been present in his art since 1977 in a large series of crosses. Between 1981 and 1995, he taught at the Viennese Academy of Arts.
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Arnulf Rainer is one of the most frequently presented Austrian artists after 1945. The following is a selection of the most important exhibitions.
2019
Silver Commander’s Cross of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Province of Lower Austria
Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
2015
Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class
2014
Grand Gold Decoration of Honour for Services to the Province of Lower Austria
2006
Aragón-Goya Prize
2004
Honorary Doctorate of the University of Münster
2003
Rhenus Art Prize
1989
Gold Medal of Honour of Vienna
Prize of the International Centre of Photography, New York
1982
Max Beckmann Prize
1978
Grand Austrian State Prize for Fine Arts
1966
Austrian State Prize for Graphic Art (together with Gotthard Muhr)
2025
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2024
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2022
MARe – Muzeul de Artă Recentă, Bucharest, Romania
2020
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2019
Albertina, Vienna
2017
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Linz
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2016
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah
2015
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Museum Weserburg, Bremen
Kunstmuseum Ahlen
Cobra Museum of Modern Art, Amstelveen
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2014
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin
Albertina, Vienna
2013
TEA, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz, Tenerife
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2012
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Kunsthalle Rostock
Stiftskirche Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden
2011
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid
Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
2010
Pinakothek der Moderne in der Alten Pinakothek, Munich
Arnulf Rainer Museum, Vienna
Katholische Akademie, Munich
Vincent van Gogh Huis, Zundert
Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger
2009
Musée d’art moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, Saint-Etienne
Museum der Moderne, Salzburg
Museum moderner Kunst Kärnten
Albertina, Vienna
2008
Österreichische Galerie im Belvedere, Vienna
2007
MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles
Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
2006
Landkreisgalerie Schloss Neuburg
Museo de Zaragoza, Zaragoza
MAK Vienna
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
2005
Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg
Armandomuseum, Amersfoort
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
2004
Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche, Aschaffenburg/Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr, Mülheim/Haus am Waldsee, Berlin
Museo dello Splendore, Giulianova
Westfälisches Landes-Museum Münster, Münster
Atterseehalle, Attersee
Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice
2003
Museo Correr, Venice
Museo Diocesano d’Arte Sacra, Venice
2002
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2001
Museum Würth, Künzelsau
Sinclair-Haus Bad Homburg
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
2000
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Provinciaal Centrum voor Beeldende Kunsten, Hasselt
Kunstforum Wien, Vienna
Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Linz
1999
Städtische Kunstsammlungen Augsburg, Neue Galerie im Höhmann-Haus
Galéria mesta Bratislavy
1998
Carolino Augusteum, Salzburger Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Vienna/Theater-museum Hannover
1997
Kunsthalle Krems
Kunstmuseum Bonn/Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle/Salzburger Landessamm-lungen Rupertinum
1996
Kärntner Landesgalerie, Klagenfurt
Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Oldenburg Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht CGAC Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela
1995
Museion, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Bozen
Muzeul National Cotroceni, Bukarest/Muzeul National Brukenthal, Hermannstadt
Palazzo Ducale, Genua
1994
Schömer-Haus, Klosterneuburg/Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz
Museen der Stadt Recklinghausen, Städtische Kunsthalle
Museum Moderner Kunst • Stiftung Wörlen, Passau/Kulturverein Zehntscheuer, Rottenburg am Neckar/Egon Schiele Centrum, Krumau an der Moldau/Listasafn Íslands, Reykjavik/23ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, special exhibition/Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires/Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile/Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo/Múcsarnok, Budapest/Národní galerie v Praze, Sbírka moderního a soucasného umení im Veletrzní palác, Prague
1993
Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück/Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein 1851, Linz
1992
The Menil Collection, Houston Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne
Kärntner Landesgalerie, Klagenfurt/Moderna Galerija Ljubljana
Fundação de Serralves, Porto
1990
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht
Städtisches Kunstmuseum Bonn
Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken/Malmö Konsthall/Brandenburgische Kunstsammlungen, Cottbus
1989
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York/Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago/Historisches Museum der Stadt Vienna/Castello di Rivoli, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea/Haags Gemeentemuseum
Bregenzer Festspiel- und Kongreßhaus
Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia
1988
Krefelder Kunstmuseen, Museum Haus Lange – Museum Haus/Neue Galerie – Staatliche und Städtische Kunstsammlungen, Kassel
Städtisches Museum Leverkusen, Schloß Morsbroich/Museen der Stadt Regensburg/Städtische Galerie »Leerer Beutel«/Kunstverein Braunschweig
1987
Magasin – Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels/Landesgalerie am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum
Museum Overholland, Amsterdam
1986
Ritter Art Gallery, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton/University of South Florida Art Galleries, Tampa/The Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University/North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh/Centre Saidye Bronfman, Montreal
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, Palais de Rumine/Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt/Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Wolfgang-Gurlitt-Museum
Abbazia di San Gregorio, Venice
1985
Schauspielhaus Bochum mit m Bochum, Galerie für Film, Foto, Neue Konkrete Kunst und Video/Galerie Ulysses, Vienna/Nationalgalerie Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz/Kunsthalle zu Kiel
1984
Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach
Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
1982
Museen der Stadt Aachen, Städtisches Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum
m Bochum, Galerie für Film, Foto, Neue Konkrete Kunst und Video, Hiroshima/Ulmer Museum/Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen am Rhein/Kunstmuseum Hannover mit Sammlung Sprengel/Malmö Konsthall/Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Gent/Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster/Neuer Berliner Kunstverein/Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris/Frankfurter Kunstverein/Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf/Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz/Kunsthaus Zürich/Kunsthalle Nürnberg/Kunstverein in Hamburg/Museum of Modern Art, Oxford/Groninger Museum; Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam
1981
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
1980
Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Retrospektive/Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
Nationalgalerie Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz/Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden/Städtisches Kunstmuseum Bonn/Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Vienna, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts/Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Humleba
1978
La Biennale di Venezia 1978: Austrian Pavillon Osterreichische Galerie des XIX. und XX. Jahrhunderts, Schloß Belvedere, Vienna/Frankfurter Kunstverein/Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart
1977
Kunsthalle Bern/Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich/Kestner-Gesellschaft Hannover
Kunstraum Munich/Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz/Kestner-Gesellschaft Hannover
1976
Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Wolfgang-Gurlitt-Museum
Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz
1975
Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt/Mannheimer Kunstverein
1974
Kunstverein Bremerhaven von 1866
Kunstraum Munich
1973
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
1971
Kunstverein in Hamburg XI Bienal de São Paulo/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, Mass.
1970
Galerie van de Loo, Munich Kunstverein Freiburg Galerie Müller, Stuttgart and Cologne
1968
Museum des 20. Jahrhundert, Vienna
1964
Galerie Springer, Berlin
1962
Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf Minami Gallery, Tokyo
1961
Galleria del Cavallino, Venice
1960
Galerie St. Stephan, Vienna
1957
Secession, Vienna
1956
Galerie St. Stephan, Vienna
1954
Galerie Würthle, Vienna
1952
zimmergalerie franck, Frankfurt am Main
1951
Galerie Kleinmayr, Klagenfurt