The painting that a friend of Salvador Dali worked on for 20 years: A Fantastic Version of the Apocalypse by Ernst Fuchs

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the perception of many, the Apocalypse is the most mysterious biblical book, being the only text that describes in detail what the end of the world will be like. The book is filled with a huge number of symbols, mysterious signs and riddles, on the meaning of which mankind has been pondering for more than one millennium, trying to decipher and predict the day of judgment. This biblical motive has also been used by artists for many centuries. How the Apocalypse presented itself Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs, a contemporary and friend of Salvador Dali, then - in our virtual gallery.

Ernst Fuchs - founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism

Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs is an outstanding figure of modern European fine art, the founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. With his philosophy and more than original vision of reality, the painter took eternal themes - religion, mythology and mysticism - as the basis of his work.

Fuchs became famous when, in the late 1950s, he created a grandiose painting based on the biblical theme "The Last Supper", which is considered the crown of his work. Today the painting is in the Benedictine Abbey in Jerusalem.

Ernst Fuchs was considered a universal artist: he painted, painted portraits, created sculptural compositions and installations, designed opera performances, wrote music, poetry and philosophical essays.

In addition to his extraordinary artistic talent, Fuchs became famous for the fact that he knew how to perfectly make money, and not only in his paintings, but also on postcards, books, furniture design, decorative fabrics - in a word, on everything that the hand of an enterprising master touched. By the way, the master designed his villa in Vienna to his liking with his own hand and opened it as a private museum for everyone to see his work. In 1996, he illustrated the Bible, which he himself praised as the pinnacle of his creativity.

His paintings and sculptures were exhibited in many countries of the world, and in 1993 a personal exhibition of the artist was held at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Fuchs's friends included Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. By the way, Fuchs met Salvador Dali during his formation, when he lived in Paris. Expressing his delight at the paintings of the beginning Austrian artist he saw, the great Salvador said:

A few words from the biography

Ernst Fuchs was born in 1930 in Vienna, the son of a Jew and a Christian. During World War II, in connection with the "Anschluss" of Austria by Hitler's Germany, my father fled from Europe. The mother was deprived of parental rights, and the boy - as a half-breed - was sent to a concentration camp. To save her son, the mother went to a formal divorce, and later baptized the child. Thus, Fuchs, having become a Catholic, adhered to this religion all his life.

The future artist began to engage in fine arts from an early age. After the end of the war, he entered the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in the class of Professor von Gütersloh. It was at that time that he painted a picture on the subject of the Crucifixion, which literally shocked his contemporaries and gave direction for creativity to Ernst himself. After graduating from the academy, for twelve years young Ernst lived in Paris, long interrupted by odd jobs, but it was there, in the capital of France, that he received worldwide recognition and name.

Ernst Fuchs lived and worked on a grand scale. "Fiery Fox", as the cult Austrian artist called himself, throughout his life diligently justified the title of a reckless and loving person. He has hundreds of provocations and hoaxes in his work. And in his personal life, being the father of eight children from three marriages, according to unofficial data, he had much more of them on the side. Some sources call the final figure - 28. Ernst Fuchs died at the age of 85 from old age in November 2015.

The work of Ernst Fuchs

Fantastic realism, or surrealism in the “antique” interpretation, is a unique phenomenon in the visual art of Western European art that arose in the Austrian capital in 1948. It was based on the best traditions of the German Renaissance, as well as a philosophical vision of the mystical and religious. Ernst Fuchs and Rudolf Hausner stood at the origins of this trend, thanks to whom this style reached its peak in popularity in the mid-60s.

Staying true to his ideals, Fuchs throughout his creative career worked in the innovative style he developed, which he himself called "fantastic realism." It should be noted that the name of the style speaks for itself: it merged the traditions of artistic classical painting and radical modern trends, in particular surrealism.

All of Ernst Fuchs's works are distinguished by their bright colors and strong color contrasts.

His work "The Three Mysteries of St. Rosencrantz", created for the modern Catholic church in Vienna, initially provoked outrage and protest among the parishioners. However, passions gradually subsided, and Fuchs's works not only remained hanging in the temple, but also became one of the attractions of the Austrian capital.

Chapel of the Apocalypse

Ernst Fuchs is a special artist with his own philosophy and original ideas. Proof of this is the grandiose project to which the master devoted two decades of his life. This monumental painting is an adornment of the "Chapel of the Apocalypse" at the Cathedral of St. Egidius, in the town of Klagenfurt, located in the south of Austria. This amazing creation with an area of 160 square meters, based on the plots of biblical legends, as well as episodes from the very recent history of mankind, including even the conquest of space by man.

The history of the grandiose work began in 1989, after the 59-year-old Austrian artist at the Tel Aviv airport accidentally met his compatriot clergyman Karl Voskitz. The acquaintance turned into a strong friendship, and for twenty years Ernst Fuchs annually, visiting his friend in his parish, painted with oil painting the chapel at the cathedral. As a rule, the artist spent two to three months a year on this work. Assistants have already helped the master to complete the painting, since the artist's age made itself felt.

And the idea of this project was born literally at a restaurant table in Vienna, when friends were having dinner. In a few minutes, Ernst Fuchs sketched a sketch of his future creation on a napkin. In addition, the master immediately proposed a design for an undulating floor made of the famous Carrara marble, which allegedly "flows" from the altar.

And now parishioners and guests of the city have the opportunity to contemplate a fantastic world in which the distant and very recent past has intertwined, forming a kind of phantasmogory. - so calls the creation of his friend Karl Voskitz. The Kleine Zeitung described it as "frighteningly beautiful".

In this world - and the archangel Michael, thrusting a spear into the seven-headed dragon, and jet planes sweeping over the ground, and a rocket preparing to take off, and the Titanic, sinking in the ocean. Here Abraham sacrifices Isaac to the roar of powerful motorcycles, astronauts who went into outer space and the Madonna and Child.

P. S

And finally, I would like to note that anticipating the end of the world is the most ancient entertainment of mankind. Remember how many times, even in the last two decades, the exact date predicting the Apocalypse was named. Recently, it was hypothesized that the day of judgment should come on June 21, 2020. This theory was based on the famous prediction of the Mayan calendar. Fortunately, this time the Apocalypse has bypassed humanity.

However, the question immediately arises: when is the next one? Predicting the exact date and then waiting for it in fear is a thankless and stupid undertaking, since this activity can be so tiring that when it actually comes, a person will say: "The end of the world. Well, finally!"

The theme of the Apocalypse in his work was also touched upon by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in his the painting "The Fall of the Rebel Angels" … Read about the symbolism, secrets and paradoxes of this masterpiece in our review.