MARUANI MERCIER Takes On Representation of Hermann Nitsch Estate
The Estate of Hermann Nitsch, a pivotal figure in the Viennese Actionism movement of the 1960s, is now represented by MARUANI MERCIER. Nitsch's diverse artistic endeavors spanned painting, performance, music, and theatre, pushing against the social norms of post-war Austria. His enduring project, Orgien Mysterien Theater, blended these forms into an engaging experience. His oil and acrylic paintings served as both independent pieces and remnants of performances, exploring themes of ritual, mortality, and human awareness. Significant exhibitions of his art took place at the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum (1983), Lenbachhaus (1988), Museum Moderner Kunst (1992), Nationalgalerie (2006), Leopold Museum (2011), Albertina Museum (2019), and Musée de l'Orangerie (2023). His works are housed in major institutions, including The Museum of Modern Art and Tate.
Key facts
- MARUANI MERCIER announced representation of the Estate of Hermann Nitsch.
- The gallery's relationship with Nitsch's work developed over several years and included two major surveys.
- Nitsch was a defining figure of post-war European art and central to Viennese Actionism in the 1960s.
- His practice moved between painting, performance, music and theatre.
- He drew on the Wagnerian idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art.
- His lifelong project, the Orgien Mysterien Theater (Orgies Mysteries Theatre), converged painting, music and action.
- Nitsch worked in oil and acrylic, applying pigment with tools, hands, feet and entire body.
- His work was shown at the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (1983); Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich (1988); Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Cologne (1992); Nationalgalerie Berlin/Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2006); Leopold Museum, Vienna (2011); Albertina Museum, Vienna (2019); and Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris (2023).
- His work is permanently represented at the Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach and Museo Hermann Nitsch in Naples.
- Nitsch is represented in major international public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Tate, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.
Entities
Artists
- Hermann Nitsch
- Philipp Schuster
Institutions
- MARUANI MERCIER
- Estate of Hermann Nitsch
- Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum
- Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus
- Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig
- Nationalgalerie Berlin
- Martin-Gropius-Bau
- Leopold Museum
- Albertina Museum
- Musée de l'Orangerie
- Nitsch Museum
- Museo Hermann Nitsch
- The Museum of Modern Art
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Tate
- Centre Pompidou
- Pinakothek der Moderne
- Maruani Mercier
Locations
- Eindhoven
- Netherlands
- Munich
- Germany
- Cologne
- Berlin
- Vienna
- Austria
- Paris
- France
- Mistelbach
- Naples
- Italy
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Knokke