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1932 Innsbruck/Tyrol - 2011 Vienna
- Title
- „Red on Red – Los Angeles“
- Time
- 1968
- signed
- verso: "Markus Prachensky 1968"
- Technique
- acrylic on canvas
- Measurements
- 48×35 in
The so-called “California paintings” – pieces from Markus Prachensky’s early period from the 1960s – are rare and highly sought after by collectors. Among these, the “Red on Red – Los Angeles” version (with two different shades of red) is much rarer than the “Red on White” or “Red on Black” versions. We are delighted to be able to present one of these sought-after paintings here.
Markus Prachensky, born in Innsbruck in 1932, studied architecture (from 1952) and painting (from 1953) at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. He soon devoted himself exclusively to painting, but was always fascinated by architecture, especially that of antiquity, and was often inspired by it to create works of art. In the 1950s, Prachensky founded the group of painters around the “Galerie nächst St. Stephan” with local art greats Josef Mikl, Arnulf Rainer and Wolfgang Hollegha.
In 1967, at the age of 35, Markus Prachensky moved to Los Angeles and set up a studio in Westwood Village. Inspired by the Californian deserts with their salt lakes and monumental sandstone formations polished by erosion, he created his “California paintings” over the following years.
The shimmering interplay of two different tones of “the color of his life” – red – and a motif that transcends the pictorial space convey the great fascination that the raw beauty of the desert and its salt lakes bathed in red evening light exerted on Prachensky.