Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (1928-2000) was an Austrian artist, born as Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna. He became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists. His personal and artistic development is mirrored in the four names he gave himself at various stages of his life and which encapsulate his entire work. It was his second name “Hundertwasser” under which he eventually became famous. His original and unruly artistic visions expressed itself in pictorial art, environmentalism, philosophy, and design of facades, postage stamps, flags among other things. Although he first achieved notoriety for his boldly-coloured paintings, he is more widely known for his individual architectural designs. The common themes in his work utilise bright colours, organic forms, a reconciliation of humans with nature, and a strong individualism, rejecting straight lines. He was fascinated by spirals, and called straight lines “the devil’s tools”. He called his theory of art “transautomatism”, based on Surrealist automatism, but focusing on the experience of the viewer, rather than the artist.
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