Hundertwasser

FriedrichStowasser,borninViennain1928,calledhimselfFriedensreichHundertwasserRegentagDunkelbunt.Truetothevarietyofhisnames,hispracticespannedinnumerableforms-frompaintinganddesigningbuildingstocreatingstampsandcoins-andhistitlesweremany:environmentalactivist,philosopher,individualist,architect,ecologist,andvisualartist.Hewas,inhisownwords,"onewhoawakensidentities."Acrosshiswork,Hundertwasserembracedthebiomorphic,theirregular,andtheirrational.DrawinginspirationfrommastersasvariedasGaudiandGustavKlimt,hiscategoricalrejectionofthe"godlessandimmoral"straightline,aswellashisboycottof"monotonousarchitecture,"infusedhisbold,colorfulworkswithavitalitythatsethimasidefrommost.Bornofthisferventactivismanduniqueuniversewashisownbeliefsystem,called"transautomatism,"whichprivilegedtheviewer'sexperienceaboveall.Whetherhewasplantingtreesinurbansettingsorproclaimingthe"righttoawindow,"Hundertwasser'svisionsofaharmoniousfuturebetweenhumansandnaturecontinuetoresonatewithincreasingurgency.Onceoutofprint,thisre-editionofaTASCHENclassicworksinclosecollaborationwiththeHundertwasserFoundationtopresenttheViennesemaster'soeuvreinallitsdifferentfacets.Becausehisworkis,bynature,virtuallyinseparablefromhisbiography,privatelife,andpoliticalactions,avividportraitofHundertwassertakesshapethroughhisownlens.Excerptsfromconversationsbetweentheauthorandtheartistaddimmediacyandauthenticitytothisintimatemonograph."Ifmanwalksinnature'smidst,thenheisnature'sguestandmustlearntobehaveasawell-brought-upguest."-FriedensreichHundertwasser.