Art-Club was an association of artists during the
postwar period in
Vienna,
Austria, in 1946–1959.
[http://www.ubu.com/papers/ruhm_vienna.html Gerhard Rühm on the dating and the early history.]
History
Art-Club was formed with the intention of fighting for the autonomy of modern art.
[http://www.basis-wien.at/avdt/htm/033/00060449.htm basis-wien.at | Article in German: Avantgarde der neuen Freiheit (Avantgarde of the new freedom)] This rather late standpoint in art history should be viewed in the light of the conditions dictated by
nazism art ideals right after
Anschluss. The autonomy of the arts had been soiled by the concept of
entartete Kunst and needed to be emphasized. For a decade marked by violence, the free picture had been oppressed as well as the free word.
Some groups
Unlike Gruppe 47 in
Germany, the Austrian Art-Club was not specially aspired to literature, though pronounced writers like
Ilse Aichinger and
Ernst Jandl were members, as was H. C. Artmann before he got more occupied by the distinctive
Wiener Gruppe. (Ingeborg Bachmann however preferred Gruppe 47). Art-Club wanted to be a continuous platform for young painters, sculptors, authors and musicians.
[http://www.basis-wien.at/avdt/htm/053/00058677.htm Article from Der Standard (June 5, 2003)] Different artist studios were meeting places as well as city cafés. Joint exhibitions could take place in
Wiener Secession. The idiom of one group of members reminded critics of
Surrealism. Johann Muschik characterized in the late 1950s these particular members
Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus (Vienna School of Fantastic Realism). Abstract painting occurred as well, for instance in the works of the young Hundertwasser, but also in a group called
Hundsgruppe with among others
Arnulf Rainer and
Maria Lassnig.
Well-known members
Footnotes
Literature
-
Die Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus, exh. cat. (Hannover, Kestner-Ges., 1965)
