Gottfried Helnwein

pseudonym: -

birth data

date of birth: 1948

place of birth: Wien

death data

date of death: lebt in

death: Irland

biography

Gottfried Helnwein is one of the most acknowledged, but at the same time one of the most controversial Austrian artists of the modern age. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He is a multi-talented artist who works with different materials and techniques such as watercolor, acrylic, oil painting and photography. He is also known for his performances and since the 80s he has been producing among others installations. Already in the 1970s, he began with hyper-realistic painting, a style to which he has remained true to this day. In this style, he also painted numerous representations of wounded and bandaged children, a motif that made him world famous. In these pictures he deals with topics such as pain, injury and violence. His pictures also present the taboos and controversial issues of modern history, in particular those from National Socialism. In 1980 he took the idols of the twentieth century as a starting point for his paintings, and reproduced in his own way portraits of personalities such as Elvis, Mick Jagger, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. He has already been honored with numerous individual exhibitions, and his works are displayed in prestigious collections and museums all over the world.