Arnulf Rainer
Short Biography
| 1929 | Born in Baden bei Wien |
| 1940-44 | Sent to reform school in Traiskirchen |
| 1947 | At a British Council exhibition in Klagenfurt, Rainer comes across international contemporary artists Paul Nash, Francis Bacon, Henry Moore, etc. He begins his first figure drawings and portraits . |
| 1947-49 | Graduates with a degree in structural engineering from state vocational school in Villach |
| 1948 | Discovers the surrealist revolutionary theories that will later strongly influence his work |
| 1949 | Enters the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst in Wien; leaves on the same day
Enters the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Wien; leaves three days later |
| 1950 | Meets Ernst Fuchs, Anton Lehmden, Arik Brauer, Wolfgang Hollegha und Joseph Mikl. Founds the “Hundsgruppe” (Dog Group) |
| 1951 | In Vienna, publicly berates the audience at the first and only Hundsgruppe exhibition
After the exhibition's poor reception, Rainer moves away from fantastical surrealism, developing an interest in microstructures and the destruction of forms. The photographic portfolio "Perspectives of Destruction" is the resume of this newly-developed deconstruction of form |
| 1953 | Meets Monsignore Otto Mauer, who becomes a patron of his work |
| 1954 | Begins work on the first photo poses |
| 1959-64 | Search for new forms in monochromatic painting: figurative overpaintings |
| 1968 | Begins work on the first “grimace photos” (Face Farces) in photo booths |
| 1973 | Development of gestural hand and finger painting |
| 1976 | Peter Kubelka shoots the color film, “Arnulf Rainer: Körpersprache” (Arnulf Rainer: Body Language) |
| 1978 | Awarded the Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis; represents Austria at the Venice Biennale |
| 1980 | Acquires studios in Upper Austria und Bavaria |
| 1981 | Rainer appointed professor at the Akademie für bildende Künste in Vienna und member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin |
| 1982 | Hiroshima-Cycle: A series of drawings over photos of the ravaged city. Exhibition travels to 17 European cities |
| 1989 | Awarded prize by the International Center of Photography, New York |
| 1993 | Arnulf Rainer Museum opens in New York |
| 1995 | Enters retirement at his own wish |
| 2002 | The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich dedicates an entire room for the permanent display of Rainer's work |
| 2003 | Receives the Rhenus Art Prize for his oeuvre, the third artist after Baselitz and Polke to be thus honored. Rainer begins to take photographs, at first as references for his overpaintings and -drawings; later they are no longer painted over, and become independent works |
| 2004 | Honorary doctorate from Münster University |
| 2006 | Honorary doctorate in theology from the Kath.-Theol. Privatuniversität Linz Rainer is the first non-Spanish artist to receive the Aragón-Goya Prize for his complete works and for his artistic affinity with Francisco de Goya |
| 2009 | The Arnulf Rainer Museum opens at the Frauenbad in Baden bei Wien |
Arnulf Rainer lives in Vienna, Upper Austria, Bavaria and since December 1996 also on Teneriffe
Countless exhibitions and publications, both nationally and internationally
