Hundertwasser: Complete Graphic Work 1951-1976

by Wieland Schmied

Although books on Hundertwasser's work abound, few are as satisfying as this luxuriously designed, one of a kind volume thhat was originally created as an exhibition catalog. Bound in black linen, foil-embossed, and printed in six colors with impeccable attention to detail, this gem of a book contains nintey-eight color illustrations featuring a selection of Hundertwasser's graphic works along with critical texts and commentary by the artist. A short introduction, an essay on the artist's grapgic work and an up-to-date biography make this an indispensable book for fans of Hundertwasser and lovers of beauty.

Genres: Art

249 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2008

Reviews

[Julia Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may wonder why I have read so many Hundertwasser books and why so many of his books exist in my shelves? The simplest answer is that his graphic works decode his philosophical positions on a lot of issues and in his buildings I can still see the future. His visual imagery is a gift and the people who get to live in his buildings and drink coffee in his public cafes in Austria are a minute part of a futuristic reality. Plus, this book itself is a work of art, as well as a book of poetry. I've read other Hundertwasser texts; he can be pedantic and/or run on like a philosophy textbook full of cautionary warnings of overbuilt spaces and over-engineered landscapes, as well as the opposite. Not that he doesn't have the right. We, of course, still need to hear it even if, socially, we have become paralyzed to respond to dehumanized public spaces and critiques of how we live and what that says about our psychic condition. Perhaps that explains the 100 in his name? Weight and depth, over and over, right? However, this book is all delight without the heavy dose of realism that normally follows suit with Friedensreich. More poetry and art than a social critique, an exotic travelogue - it's light and airy. No easy feat for this artist/architect/social critic/philosopher/poet whose artistic voice after the war offered sober recovery by remembering to pair the human being with everything that had torn it apart, and/or separated it from what makes life worth living in the first place.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Never step into a sterile building
where the walls are flat and the
windows are all the same
Such house will bring big harm to you
If you are visiting someone in such
a house: boycott it
If you are not allowed to transform it:
stay outside and ask the person
you want to visit to come out
Because it is a prisoner's house."

[Jelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite type of art, but very interesting. I enjoyed the nature-focused text accompanying some of the pieces. The biographical information was also interesting. I had never heard of Hundertwasser before.

[Theodora (paper.bag.reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem of a book

[Nio03 · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the worx!