Product Description

Viennese-native Friedrich Stowasser (1928-2000) called himself Hundertwasser Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt. True to the colorful variety of his names, he pursued many activities as a painter, architect and ecologist, and as "one who awakens identities." This presentation of Hundertwasser's work in all of its different facets is guided by the artist's own view of himself and his purpose. And, because his work is virtually inseparable from his personal life and political activity, a vivid portrait of the artist takes shape before the reader's eyes. Excerpts from conversations between the author and the artist lend a sense of immediacy and authenticity to the narration.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #115601 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-01
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .38 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 197 pages

Review
"His trump card is his art, the creator of beauty: of natural harmony, peace and joy. The extra-lucid power of his analytical sensitivity makes him the perfect decoder of global culture and its guided information. He reveals the prodigious quality resources of naturist empiricism against the abusive uniformity of rationalist totalitarianism, against the tyranny of ugliness and the iron rule of its straight line." Excerpt from: Pierre Restany, Hundertwasser, The Power of Art - The Painter-King with the five skins, Cologne, 1998, p. 94"

Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)

About the Author
Harry Rand is Curator of Twentieth-Century Painting and Sculpture at the National Museum of American Art. He is a contributing editor for "Arts Magazine"; the author of "Manet's Contemplation at the Gare Saint-Lazare" (California, 1987) and "Paul Manship" (Smithsonian 1989).

Customer Reviews

I salute your Spirit!
Hundertwasser died early this year in a little town in the North of New Zealand. Eventhough I had never met the man, I felt saddened, as I had come of know of him, and his work from this book, which is a biography of sorts.

While for me, the great attraction was the beautiful quality of the reproductions which replicated the pure pure colours, the text is mostly in an interview format, and one gets to hear Hundertwasser's 'voice' - and from that his spirit. I found myself wondering at times, if it was solely his work, or his passion which made the legend of Hundertwasser. The artist has strong opinions about everything, from garden gnomes to his hatred for conventional and boring buildings. I found his concepts of 'tree tenents' (trees should live with us in apartments) and houses that should be indistinguishable from above (by growing grass roofs) fascinating. However, at the end of the day, it is his bold use of colour - vivid, vibrant, confrontational colour coupled with his enigmatic yet child-like imagery, which glows in my memory.

Magic
I was in an extremely bad mood, walking around with a scowl and wishing there was more to the mundaeity that was around me. And that was when I found this book. I had never come across Hundertwasser before. This book is a magical journey throughout the artists life with beautiful reproductions of his amazingly inspirational works. The strength in the book is in its layout, sequencing and the question and answer format between the author of the book and Hundertwasser himself. This book, without sounding cliqued, has changed me and I will continue to hunt for any Hundertwasser I can find. Pure Magic.

Primarily H's Watercolors & Paintings, with Details about His Life & His Theories and a Bit about His Architecture
REVIEW SUBTITLE: A Serendipitous Purchase

While I had come across references to "the art of Hundertwasser," because I knew only of him as an architect and consider architecture an art, I assumed that the colorful work adorning the cover of this book was one of the Gaudi-esque architect's occasionally fancified plans. As a number probably know, however, it is not. Rather it is but one of Hundertwasser's many paintings.

Though I'd expected a book on architecture, I was not disappointed to receive one focusing on H's development as a painter. In fact, I was elated, for splashed across approximately 2/3rds of the 197 pages of this book are what had originally attracted me to him: the "lush opulence" of what I now know are his watercolors and paintings.

This book, however, is not just a visual feast. In addition tracing his development as an artist, the text includes and discusses H's thoughts on topics such as those noted in the Table of Contents I've included in the commentary following this review. And while some may seem esoteric, the discussions are not. In fact, they're fascinating.

That most of the focus of Taschen's retrospective of H and his work is on water colors/painting is not surprising, for so few of his structures were ever realized. However, approximately 30 well-illustrated pages are devoted to H's theories about architecture, his architectural models, and the utopian structure he was commissioned by the city of Vienna to build.

I was certainly correct in one assumption I made when I ordered HUNDERTWASSER: With the words "Taschen 25th Anniversary" attached to its title, I could not go wrong. Nor will anyone who purchases it.