Wolfgang Hollegha

In 1961, Hollegha was the only European to be given one of the ‘Carnegie International Awards’. Ellsworth Kelly received the main prize, with Wolfgang Hollegha, Mark Tobey, Jules Olitski and Adolph Gottlieb the other winners at the time. Exhibitions in the USA, at the ICA in London, at ‘documenta III’ (1964) and representing Austria at the São Paulo Biennial (1967) returned the artist to the forefront. In 1962, Wolfgang Hollegha retired to a farm on the Rechberg, which allowed him to follow the path he had chosen single-mindedly. He remained the only Austrian painter of his generation to work by pouring on canvases placed on the ground and produced a first-rate coloristic oeuvre.

Wolfgang Hollegha died last December in his house on the Rechberg. His final plans concerned an exhibition that was to have taken place in the Neue Galerie. It was to feature new and never, or rarely seen, paintings and drawings. No new paintings materialised, however, though there were new drawings. The last paintings are from 2018 and 2019. It was clear to the artist that he would only start painting if he was able to make the necessary physical effort, for painting meant physical exertion for Wolfgang Hollegha in many respects.

This exhibition can now be realised thanks to the support of the Hollegha family, especially Daniel Hollegha. A catalogue is published to accompany the exhibition.