Hundertwasser - frequent questions about the Austrian artist - answered shortly

In our article “Friedensreich Hundertwasser – the colorful ‘architecture doctor’”, we explored the biography, career, and many facets of the Austrian polymath’s work. However, some questions about this exceptional artist remained unanswered, which we would now like to address.

Frequently asked questions about the Austrian artist – answered shortly:

Who was Friedensreich Hundertwasser?

Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist whose diverse work shaped the second half of the 20th century.

Hundertwasser lived and worked as a global citizen, influencing the understanding of art, architecture, and the environment for many people in numerous countries around the world . In doing so, he sowed a diverse and vibrant international seed that continues to generate (and increasingly so) ideas for living and housing in a way that is both humane and environmentally responsible.

Hundertwasser was born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna in 1928 and, due to the early death of his father (from appendicitis), was raised solely by his mother Elsa from 1929 onwards. Elsa Stowasser fostered her son's creativity and enrolled him in what was then the only Montessori school in Vienna, where art teachers attested to his exceptional sense of form and color.

The Austrian woman of Jewish faith also managed to have her son baptized Catholic in 1935 amidst the rising Nazi horrors, and to bring them both safely through the Nazi terror.

After graduating from high school in 1948, Friedrich briefly attended the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts before leaving his still intellectually very narrow-minded homeland in the spring of 1949 to explore the big, wide world. Friedensreich Hundertwasser traveled to Italy and France, Morocco and Tunisia, studying the art of his time and his ancestors, meeting other artists, and drawing inspiration from their work.

He learned Italian, French and English, and soon his travels took him further around the world, adding Arabic, Russian, Czech and Japanese to his repertoire.

Hundertwasser's miniature paint box was always with him; he painted everywhere and soon exhibited everywhere: in 1953 in Vienna, in 1956 in Paris and in 1961 in Japan; later at the Venice Biennale, the documenta in Kassel, the International Art Exhibition in Tokyo and with traveling exhibitions in the USA, New Zealand and Australia.

He lived on his farm in Normandy, in an industrial wasteland in the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria, and finally on an old salt freighter, all of which he converted and designed in his own unique style. He transformed the Kaurinui Valley in New Zealand's Bay of Islands into a home, returning the land to nature in the process

The old farmhouse was ecologically modernized; Hundertwasser planted more than 100,000 native trees, built ponds with hydroelectric power plants and plant-filled sewage treatment plants, solar panels, and a series of creative studios, living and working spaces called Bottlehouse, Mountain Hut, and Pigsty.

A few years later, Hundertwasser acquired a “ready-made paradise” in Italy: the Venetian Giardino Eden, a historic palazzo in one of Venice’s most famous gardens.

He married twice and was divorced, and in 1981 fathered his only daughter, with whom he never had contact. From 1962 onwards, Hundertwasser taught art as a lecturer, often in practical collaboration with young architects, craftsmen, and artists.

In addition to numerous exhibitions at the world's most important exhibition venues, posters for the Olympics and postage stamps for Austria, the UN Postal Administration and many countries, Hundertwasser became increasingly active in the field of architecture: He designed numerous colorful, organic houses and facades all over the world.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser's connection to his homeland remained alive and preserved for posterity in numerous Austrian Hundertwasser houses; he was on his way back from New Zealand to Vienna when he died of heart failure on board an ocean-going steamer in February 2000.

What is typical of Hundertwasser?

Friedensreich Hundertwasser was raised by his mother in an environment of provincial, narrow-minded, and provincial Nazi ideology, where he was nurtured into a creative, independent thinker. Typical of him (and other “free thinkers”) was, first and foremost, the urge to break free from his home environment and broaden his horizons. Free thinking often goes hand in hand with creativity or even generates it; artistic creation has been a proven means of broadening perspectives since the Middle Ages…

The talented and creative Friedensreich Hundertwasser also showed an early and sound understanding of ecological relationships, organic structures, and cause-and-effect mechanisms . He was an “early Green” in the truest sense of the word, who throughout his life abhorred straight, angular lines and standardization by humans.

His buildings were individually adapted to the natural environment and gained a special vibrancy through sweeping curves and imaginative facade design.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser Regentag Dunkelbunt was an exceptional artist with talents in many areas , which he explored with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He was driven by incredible creativity , a striving for meaning and wholeness , and of course by his successes, which even today make him, in the eyes of many, the most successful artist of Austrian modernism.

However, what is typical of Friedensreich Hundertwasser is above all his commitment behind all these works of art : for a healthy life of humanity in conjunction with nature, for humanity and growing diversity, in architecture, vegetation and human thought.

How did Hundertwasser get his name?

Hundertwasser began signing his works simply with “Hundertwasser” as early as 1948/49 at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.

Hundertwasser formed this artist name from his given name Stowasser, in reference to the origin of his parents: Ernst Stowasser's family came from Bohemia, Elsa Stowasser's family from Moravia, both Slavic language areas in which the word "Sto" stands for "hundred".

Hundertwasser later learned that he had hit the nail on the head twice with this adaptation of his name to the family's new home: The name Stowasser is well documented in the history of the Egerland region in western Czechia, but is also present in the Tyrolean dialect, where it stands for standing water and stagnant water.

Hundertwasser is said to have deliberately ignored the interpretation of the name component as referring to “standing water” – quite understandable for an artist who spent his life stirring up “stagnant” pools of established habits, perspectives and building methods.

Hundertwasser coined the first name Friedensreich in Japan in 1961. As is customary in Japan, he examined the root words of his given name, Friedrich, to combine them into a name with greater meaning. The name Friedrich consists of the roots "Fried" from the Old High German "fridu," meaning peace, protection, security, and "rich" from the Old High German "rîhhi," meaning powerful, rich; together, these denote a powerful ruler who could offer protection in times of war. Since this common interpretation had little to do with Hundertwasser's own worldview, he preferred to call himself "Friede-reich," "Friedenreich," and, from 1968 onward, "Friedensreich.".

How much does a “genuine Hundertwasser” cost?

It depends on which piece of Hundertwasser's diverse art you would like to acquire:

A genuine oil painting typically fetches prices of around €120,000 to €200,000 at auction. A small watercolor sold for €20,000 in 2013, while limited-edition prints (lithographs, screen prints, etchings, color woodcuts) start at €6,000, €8,000, and €10,000.

A tapestry woven in Mexico from Hundertwasser's tapestry series is offered for 15,000 euros, while the "Mould Manifesto against Rationalism in Architecture" from 1958, hand-signed by Hundertwasser, is available for 1,800 euros.

The many objects of applied Hundertwasser art are more difficult to find than to pay for: The color serigraph on several staggered glass panes called “Fall in Cloud, Fall in fog, fall out” (1979) was auctioned for a good 3,000 euros in 2007.

The scale of the elaborate production process becomes clear when one considers that 61 printing operations were required (29 screen prints and 32 metal embossing). The result of this multi-stage creative process is an impressive three-dimensional image depicting a transparent city in vibrant colors and sparkling metals.

The development of the object lasted from 1973 to 1979. Alberto della Vecchia acted as coordinator, and the screen prints were produced by Hundertwasser's long-time Venetian printer, Claudio Barbato, in an edition of 999 copies.

The ceramic object “Spiralental” from 1983 (Rosenthal annual object) recently sold for 1,200 euros.

However, the owner of the Kleines Museum Schweinfurt, which presents a permanent Hundertwasser exhibition there, had to search for several years for one of the legendary Hundertwasser cicada dragons (traditional Japanese insect dragons with chirping bullroarers, made for a traveling exhibition in 1988).

Easier to find (e.g. on eBay) are Friedensreich Hundertwasser's poster for the 1972 Munich Olympics, which is offered in its first edition starting at €125, and the stamps: The Senegal block No. 705-707 currently costs €468.

Anyone wishing to get to know the artist's work in its entirety can treat themselves to a special edition of the Hundertwasser catalogue raisonné, in book design with an original Hundertwasser etching for 990 euros… Or enjoy Hundertwasser art for free, in the aforementioned Schweinfurt museum and in the cityscape of many German and Austrian towns .

What do "Regentag" and "Dunkelbunt" mean?

Regentag and Dunkelbunt are names with which Friedensreich Hundertwasser expanded the description of his person (presumably to adapt this description more to the breadth of his experience, his personality).

In 1949, Stowasser became Hundertwasser, and from 1961 to 1968, Friedrich changed from Friede-reichen to Friedensreichen.

Regentag and Dunkelbunt both refer to his origins in painting and his fascination with colors:

From 1972 onwards, Friedensreich Hundertwasser added the word "Regentag" (Rainy Day) to his artist pseudonym, having realized how colors shimmer in the rain. Rainy days had long been the days on which he most enjoyed painting and felt happiest; the luminous creations of these days were now to be immortalized and celebrated in his artist name.

Hundertwasser added "Dunkelbunt" (darkly colorful) to his palette in New Zealand in 1978, as an expression of the maximum possible concentration of saturated color. Hundertwasser loved the darkness of colors, which are far removed from white. This doesn't refer to an ordinary solid color – Hundertwasser mixed his own paints from earth and volcanic sand, clay and charcoal, lime and orange, red, almost black bricks, egg and oil.

And he didn't stick to dark colors, but combined these colors with bright oil and watercolor tones, fluorescent and phosphorescent colors, metallic pigments and ornamental stone.

Where can I buy artworks by Hundertwasser?

In many renowned galleries and at art auctions around the globe , whenever an art lover (or their heirs) parts with an “original Hundertwasser”.

Art by Friedensreich Hundertwasser is frequently and gladly at the Dorotheum auction house in Vienna , which was founded in 1707 by Emperor Joseph I and has made a name for itself as the largest Central European auction house for (applied) art far beyond the German-speaking world.

If you are looking for a specific artwork by Friedensreich Hundertwasser or doubt the authenticity of a Hundertwasser original, it is best to contact Namida AG, c/o Stauffacher Treuhand AG in 8750 Glarus/Switzerland (formerly Grüner Janura AG).

This public limited company for carrying out creative, artistic and entertaining activities has managed Hundertwasser's copyrights since 1972, today as a subsidiary of the Hundertwasser Charitable Private Foundation of 1988, which Friedensreich Hundertwasser named as his sole heir in his will.

Art in the spirit of Friedensreich Hundertwasser can be found in any arts and crafts shop that enjoys colorful diversity, and on platforms for handmade products such as Etsy.

However, it would be more contemporary to live according to Hundertwasser's principles instead of consuming them: with colorful, humane, environmentally friendly architecture and rooftop forests, greened gas stations and invisible, inaudible highways – all ideas that “architecture doctor” Hundertwasser already promoted around 50 years ago.

We will not have another 50 years, because the “life in harmony with the laws of nature” demanded by Friedensreich Hundertwasser has now become vital for survival.