Starting in the mid-1950s, the Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch sought to create a new form of art that would combine music, literature, and visual arts in the sense of Gesamtkunstwerk, a synthesis of arts that appealed to all the senses. As a sub-discipline of his “Orgien Mysterien Theater” (Theater of Orgies and Mysteries), painting served not only as impetus but also as the outcome of numerous actions and is firmly anchored in the artist's oeuvre. In 1989, the first multi-colored “Schüttbilder” (Poured Paintings) were created. Composed of different layers, they repeatedly incorporate the liturgical colors green, red, violet, white, and black. An exhibition at the Albertina in Vienna in 2019 impressively demonstrated the wide range of Nitsch's artwork. In an essay accompanying the exhibition, Hermann Nitsch described color as “a powerful phenomenon.” His action painting expresses this lifelong enthusiasm for the material, and the works are lasting testimonies to his legendary and widely documented painting actions.

Apart from the color, the painter's shirt also plays a special role. In 1991, Hermann Nitsch wrote: “[.] the shirt often adorns a painting as the highest kind of decoration and trophy to enrich its color structure; there are paintings that do not need a shirt, others demand it” (Hermann Nitsch, Das Malhemd, 1991, quoted from: Dietmar Haubenhofer, Hermann Nitsch. Das Konzept des Orgien Mysterien Theaters. Malaktionen, Prinzendorf 2013, p. 122). The shirt attached to the center of the present work shows clear traces of the very physical, sensual process of its creation, inevitably evoking associations with depictions of the crucifixion. References to religious and philosophical worldviews, as well as ancient mystical cults, are characteristic of Hermann Nitsch's Gesamtkunstwerk; they appear time and again in various actions, relics, and layers of associations. Nitsch's concept of art was not always met with public approval, especially in the early days. Until his death in 2022, however, the general view of his work has steadily changed. His early works, in particular, are now recognized as a pioneering contribution to 20th-century art and, in their entirety, continue to fascinate his audience. [AR]