Friedrich Stowasser (1928, Vienna – 2000, New Zealand), better known by
the name of Friedrich Hundertwasser, was a painter, thinker, and
architect, or rather a “doctor of architecture,‿ as he declared in his
manifesto of the 24th of January 1990.
His architectural creations, organic and full of imagination, may have
been influenced by the works of Antoni Gaudí. Yet, Hundertwasser was
more radical in his philosophy. As expressed in his remarkable
eco-artistic manifestos, and other achievements (paintings, posters,
stamps, houses, and architectural designs), his message remains
profoundly and viscerally ecological.
His pictorial work is characterised by an organic abundance of forms and
by the brilliance of its colours.
Hundertwasser is an artist who is difficult to classify. With his
tremendous love of nature, he is one of the pioneers of humanist and
environmentalist architecture, which attempted to reconcile creativity
and ecology. This vision has been shared by many young artists all over
the world and by the founders of eco-villages.
The Aurhor
Pierre Restany remains the most influential French art critic of the
second half of the 20th century. A witness to the dynamic New York art
scene, he founded, along with Yves Klein, the “New Realism,‿ an artistic
movement created in reaction to Pop Art, which expressed the distress
of the post-war period.
Always alert and on the look-out for a new artistic creation, this
eminent art critic became interested in Hundertwasser’s fascinating work
and ecological theory. They met on several occasions: in Paris in 1957,
and also in Vienna, where they spent three days together. This text is
an account of the encounters between two exalted giants of the artistic
scene, as well as the homage of a critic to the great Austrian artist.