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1951 Tragwein/Upper Austria – 2003 Vienna
- Title
- untitled (1975)
- Time
- 1975
- signed
- lower left “Mairwöger 75”
- Technique
- oil on canvas
- Measurements
- 41 ¼×51 ¼ in
This painting is one of those rare, large-scale works from Gottfried Mairwöger’s early creative period of the 1970s that are especially sought after by collectors. All the more, we are delighted to present with this work one of the key paintings of that phase.
In 1971, Gottfried Mairwöger began studying painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in the master class of Josef Mikl. In 1972, Wolfgang Hollegha took over the class and guided Mairwöger on his path toward Color Field painting. The material, application of paint, and priming of the present work are executed using the same techniques practiced by Hollegha. The canvas was repeatedly sanded and primed. The heavily thinned oil paint was mixed by the artist himself; the pigment leaves sediment-like fields of color, lending the painting – along with the visible weave of the linen – both texture and depth. In direct comparison, however, one notices in Mairwöger’s work a restraint of the sweeping, gestural brushstroke in favor of carefully balanced color fields, resulting in an almost meditative visual effect.
The present painting was the centerpiece of Mairwöger’s first solo exhibition (1975, Vienna). A photograph from the opening survives in which the painting can be seen. Standing before it are both the artist himself and his prominent patron, Karel Schwarzenberg. This evocative, atmospheric work – a highlight of Austrian Color Field painting around 1975 – is also among the few paintings that Mairwöger signed and dated on the front.