Ernst Fuchs - Buy or sell works
13 February 1930, Vienna (Austria) - 9 November 2015, Vienna (Austria)
Ernst Fuchs co-founded the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism and was one of its most influential members. He was passionate about the applied arts. Constantly striving to make the world a better place through art, the artist put great thought into what he created.
Fuchs was born in Vienna in 1930, the only child of a Jewish family. He discovered his distinctive artistic talent early on and proceeded to perfect his skills in drawing, painting and sculpture courses. Fuchs enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1946, where he studied under such prestigious painters as Robin Andersen and Albert Paris Gütersloh. Inspired by their openness towards other cultures, Fuchs went on to gain further artistic inspiration on trips to England, Spain, Italy, Israel and America. One destination in particular shaped his work: the Israeli Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion. A free spirit who took solace in solitude, Fuchs acquainted himself there with icon painting, a subject that at the time was largely new to him. In 1962, Fuchs took a professorship in Vienna and also co-founded the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism - envisioned as the Austrian centre for extraordinary visual arts - along with Wolfgang Hutter, Rudolf Hausner, Arik Brauer and Anton Lehmde.
Fuchs is best known for his Surrealist works, many of which are laced with religious symbolism and mystical allusions. Alongside his extraordinary travel experiences, Fuchs also drew inspiration for his extravagant imagery from visionary experiences, which he sought to convey in his iconographic works. Today three of these works adorn the altar of the famous Rosenkranzkirche Church in Hetzendorf, Vienna. Fuchs's influence is not limited to Surrealism, however, but is also reflected in a wide range of sculptures, opera stage design and architecture.