Editing Hermann Nitsch

{{Short description|Austrian artist (1938–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Hermann Nitsch
| image         = Hermann Nitsch am 28. März 2012 bei der Präsentation seines Weines im Gmoakeller (Wien).jpg
| caption       = Nitsch in 2012
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1938|08|29|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Vienna]], Austria
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2022|04|18|1938|8|29|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Mistelbach]], Austria
| spouse        = 
| field         = Performance art, music
| training      = Wiener Graphische Lehr-und Versuchanstalt
| movement      = [[Vienna Actionists]]
| works         = ''Orgien Mysterien Theater''
| patrons       = 
| influenced by = 
| influenced    = 
| awards        = 
| elected       = 
| website       = {{URL|nitsch.org}}
| bgcolour      = 
}}

'''Hermann Nitsch''' (29 August 1938 – 18 April 2022)<ref>[https://orf.at/stories/3260565/ Aktionskünstler Hermann Nitsch ist tot] auf orf.at</ref> was an Austrian [[contemporary art]]ist and composer. His art encompassed wide-scale [[Performance art|performance]]s incorporating theater, [[multimedia]], [[ritual]]s and acted violence. He was a leading figure of [[Viennese Actionism]].

== Life ==
Born in [[Vienna]], Nitsch received training in painting when he studied at the [[Höhere Graphische Bundes-Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt|Wiener Graphische Lehr-und Versuchanstalt]], during which time he was drawn to [[religious art]].<ref name="Hermann Nitsch">[http://www.discogs.com/artist/Hermann+Nitsch Hermann Nitsch], Discogs.</ref><ref name="Hermann Nitsch, Art Directory">[http://www.art-directory.info/fine-art/hermann-nitsch-1938/ Hermann Nitsch], Art Directory.</ref> He is associated with the [[Vienna Actionists]]—a loosely affiliated group of Austrian artists interested in transgressive themes and the centrality of the body in their artwork, which also includes [[Günter Brus]], [[Otto Muehl]], and [[Rudolf Schwarzkogler]].<ref name="HERMANN NITSCH By Jonas Vogt, Alexander Nussbaumer">[https://www.vice.com/en/article/hermann-nitsch-595-v17n11/ HERMANN NITSCH], By Jonas Vogt, Alexander Nussbaumer. He is represented in France by the Galerie RX.</ref>

Nitsch's abstract 'splatter' paintings, like his performance pieces were inspired by his neutral perspective on humanity and being human. In the 1950s, Nitsch conceived of the ''Orgien Mysterien Theater'' (which roughly translates as ''Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries'' or ''The Orgiastic Mystery Theater'') and staged nearly 100 performances between 1962 and 1998.<ref name="HERMANN NITSCH By Jonas Vogt, Alexander Nussbaumer"/>

In 1966 he was with [[Yoko Ono]], [[Gustav Metzger]], [[Günter Brus]], [[Otto Muehl]], [[Wolf Vostell]], [[Juan Hidalgo Codorniu|Juan Hidalgo]], and others, as a participant of the ''[[Destruction in Art Symposium]]'' (''DIAS'') in London.<ref>[http://www.mmoma.ru/catalogs/techne/catobj?en&mid=254&id=76 ''Destruction in Art Symposium'' (''DIAS''), London, 1966] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525192155/https://mmoma.ru/catalogs/techne/catobj?en&mid=254&id=76 |date=25 May 2022 }}.</ref>

== Art ==
In 1962, together with [[Otto Muehl]] and [[Adolf Frohner]], he performed the three-part action “The Blood Organ” in Vienna, for which a joint manifesto was published. At the beginning of the 1960s, he developed the main ideas for his ''Orgie Mysterien Theater.'' Nitsch's ''Orgien Mysterien Theater'' performances (or ''Aktionen'', as he called them) can be considered to have been both ritualistic and [[Existentialism|existential]]. The scene often involved slaughters, religious sacrifices, and [[crucifixion]], as well as blood and flesh. The performances were also accompanied by [[music]], [[dancing]], and active participants. In his first ''Orgie Mysterien Theater'' performance, Nitsch and his friends used animal carcasses, entrails, and blood similarly to a ritual. The cloths, bandages, and other fabrics used in these performances introduced Nitsch to the idea of making paintings.<ref name="HERMANN NITSCH By Jonas Vogt, Alexander Nussbaumer"/>

From 1971 on Nitsch organized his “Orgy-Mystery Games” at the [[Prinzendorf Castle]] area he acquired, including the high point of his life's work, the great “6-Day Game” in the summer of 1998, directed by [[Alfred Gulden]].

In 1972, Nitsch participated in [[Documenta 5]] in [[Kassel]], curated by [[Harald Szeemann]]; he was also represented at [[Documenta 7]] in 1982. In 1975, [[Marina Abramović]] took part in a Nitsch performance. In addition  upon occasion [[Christoph Schlingensief]] also participated in the work of Nitsch.

Nitsch was repeatedly invited to bring his conceptions of art and ritual to the opera. In 1995, he co-directed the [[Vienna State Opera]] and created the sets and costumes for [[Jules Massenet]]'s opera [[Hérodiade]]. In 2001, Nitsch was responsible for the stage design and costumes for the performance of the Gandhi opera [[Satyagraha]] by the American composer [[Philip Glass]] in the [[Festspielhaus St. Pölten]] in [[Lower Austria]]. In 2005, he created the equipment for [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s [[Le Renard]]. In 2007, he directed the scenes from [[Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'' by [[Robert Schumann]] at the [[Zurich Opera House]]. In 2011 he was responsible for the scenic conception, design, stage design, and costumes for [[Saint François d’Assise]] by [[Olivier Messiaen]] at the [[Bavarian State Opera]] in [[Munich]].

Nitsch's worldview was strongly influenced by mystical authors, but also by [[de Sade]], [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Sigmund Freud]], and [[Antonin Artaud]], among others. In his theoretical book Orgien-Mysterien-Theater, Nitsch stated that his actions and images should first cause disgust in the audience, then catharsis. The combining of real animal carcasses and real blood with religious content such as the crucifixion and the [[Immaculate Conception]] were consciously used by Nitsch in order to bring the viewer to reflect on symbolic [[topoi]] such as blood and death that are often repressed in everyday life, which also play a central role in [[Christianity]]. Christian viewers and numerous critics perceived his actions and works as [[blasphemy]].

In addition to his theater of orgies and mysteries, Nitsch was also active as a composer<ref>{{cite web | url=https://minimalismore.es/index.php/en/2022/04/19/hermann-nitsch-composer-and-wiener-aktivist-is-dead/ | title=Composer and artist Hermann Nitsch is dead | date=19 April 2022 }}</ref> and writer. His actions are noted in meticulously notated scores which, in addition to instructions and texts, also contain graphically notated pieces of music.

Because he offended not only [[animal rights activists]], but also [[theologians]] and representatives of public morality, his work is highly controversial. Conversely, some action and performance artists, including former comrades-in-arms, distance themselves from what they consider to be the overly religious element of his work. In terms of content, his art at Prinzendorf Castle can certainly be interpreted as an attempt at a counter to [[Richard Wagner]]'s [[Bayreuth]].

From November 1988 to January 1989, the Städtische Galerie in the Lenbachhaus in Munich showed some of the artist's works as part of the solo exhibition "Nitsch - Das Bildnerische Werk".

He performed the "2-day game" campaign in summer 2004. On 19 November 2005, the 122nd action of the Orgies-Mysteries-Theater took place at Vienna's [[Burgtheater]] as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the reopening after [[World War II]].

On 24 May 2007, the “Hermann Nitsch Museum” was opened in the [[Mistelbach Museum Center]], which led to protests among parts of the [[Mistelbach population]]. In [[Naples]] on 13 September 2008, Nitsch's long-time gallery owner [[Peppe Morra]] opened a museum dedicated exclusively to Nitsch's work, the “Museo Archivio Laboratorio per le Arti Contemporanee Hermann Nitsch”, which was set up in a former power station.

In the [[Weinviertel]], not far from his Prinzendorf Castle, Nitsch owned a vineyard. The yields from it are pressed according to traditional standards and filled into double-liter bottles. Since the 2006 vintage, the Nitsch-Doppler, whose label Hermann Nitsch artistically redesigned every year, has been presented to the public in Vienna.

In 2010 Nitsch created a series of [https://europeanculturalcentre.eu/var/gallery/file/f8ca5c87f251ab891d9785b7fd72c624.jpg Limited Edition Prints], presenting his 130. Aktion at the Museo Nitsch in Napoli with the Dutch artist Rene Rietmeyer.

[https://europeanculturalcentre.eu/var/gallery/file/b417d555496792a8b5bf480f3b035839.pdf ''''UNDER MY SKIN'']” This book is the documentation of Personal Structures Art Projects #02. Published by European Cultural Centre.

He exhibited his works during the [[2017 Venice Biennale]] at the European Cultural Centre.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cornerhousepublications.org/publications/personal-structures/|title=PERSONAL STRUCTURES - Cornerhouse Publications|work=Cornerhouse Publications|access-date=11 July 2017|language=en-GB|archive-date=29 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529054322/https://www.cornerhousepublications.org/publications/personal-structures/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://lodownmagazine.com/pulse/personal-structures|title=Personal Structures|date=13 April 2015|work=Lodown Magazine|access-date=11 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Most recently, in 2020, 80 current works were shown at the Museum Mistelbach in the exhibition ''Hermann Nitsch - New Works''. After the color red, which he used earlier in his artistic work, and after the color yellow - the color of light and [[resurrection]] - Nitsch used bright colors in his late creative days. His endeavor was to bring sounds, tastes, and tactile sensations onto the canvas with his own hands. He was inspired by [[peonies]] and other flowers. His late work has an optimistic and life-affirming effect through the floral color symphonies and the transcendent lightness. [15]

== Art market ==
Nitsch's estate is represented by [[Pace Gallery]] (since 2022) and Galerie Kandlhofer.<ref>Tessa Solomon (10 February 2022), [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/pace-gallery-hermann-nitsch-1234618767/ Pace Gallery Now Represents Hermann Nitsch, Artist Known for Controversy-Courting Installations] ''[[ARTnews]]''.</ref><ref>Melanie Gerlis (10 February 2022), [https://www.ft.com/content/855a230a-77fd-4ada-a89e-5db4c9112c6c Bacon triptych estimated to fetch a sizzling £55mn] ''[[Financial Times]]''.</ref>

== Controversy ==
Because of their intense and graphic nature, often using nude performers and blood, Nitsch was subject to several court trials with charges of gross public indecency, and even sentences of three prison terms, because of his artworks. It has been suggested by critics that his work may exemplify certain peoples' fascination with, and desensitization to, violence.<ref name="Hermann Nitsch"/><ref>[http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2009/10/24/hermann-nitsch-scandalo-per-due.html Article in Italian newspaper ''La Repubblica'']</ref><ref name="Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath: The Sacrificial Rites of Hermann Nitsch.">[http://www.cvltnation.com/sabbath-bloody-sabbath-the-sacrificial-rites-of-hermann-nitsch/ Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath: The Sacrificial Rites of Hermann Nitsch.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601135506/http://www.cvltnation.com/sabbath-bloody-sabbath-the-sacrificial-rites-of-hermann-nitsch/ |date=1 June 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Animals, art and death: Hermann Nitsch's 3-Day-Play">[http://viennesewaltz.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/nitsch-2/ Animals, art and death: Hermann Nitsch's 3-Day-Play.]</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*Stark, Ekkehard. Hermann Nitschs 'Orgien Mysterien Theater' und die "Hysterie der Griechen." Quellen und Traditionen in Wiener Atikedild seit 1900
*Winkler, Michael. ''Review: Hermann Nitschs 'Orgien Mysterien Theater' und die "Hysterie der Griechen." Quellen und Traditionen in Wiener Atikedild seit 1900 by Ekkehard Stark.'' The German Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 4, 60th Anniversary 1928-1988 (Autumn, 1988) pp.&nbsp;590–591.
*Romberg, Osvaldo. ''Redemption through Blood'':pp.&nbsp;8–13, 60–71

==External links==
*[http://www.ubu.com/film/nitsch.html UbuWeb Films ''Hermann Nitsch (b. 1938)'']
*[http://www.nitsch.org Hermann Nitsch's Homepage] {{in lang|de}}
*[http://sastreport.x10.mx/nitsch.html Hermann Nitsch] on Sast report culture
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081010231608/http://www.scribemedia.org/2008/05/22/hermann-nitsch-in-america/ Video of Hermann Nitsch in America]
*[https://www.saatchigallery.com/artist/hermann_nitsch The Saatchi Gallery in Hermann Nitsch], Gallery in London with images, information, text and biography about the artist
*[http://vimeo.com/1955475 Nitschland Napoli] Film by [[Roberto Paci Dalò]]
*[http://www.museonitsch.org Museo Hermann Nitsch Napoli], Fondazione Morra
*[http://www.hn-movie.org Hermann Nitsch - The Movie], HN The Movie - a documentary film about Hermann Nitsch
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCzH80utgNs Abstract from the documentary Hermann Nitsch] by Verdeoro und Pierino Ambrosoli, Foundation Zurich, regie Daniela Ambrosoli, 2011. Photo at the Hermann Nitsch 64. Malaktion. Mart, Rovereto. Introduction and released by art critic and curator dr [[Alain Chivilò]]
*[https://www.nitsch.org/en Hermann Nitsch official website] (in English)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nitsch, Hermann}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:Artists from Vienna]]
[[Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts]]
[[Category:Experimental composers]]
[[Category:Noise musicians]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in music]]
[[Category:Austrian performance artists]]
[[Category:Austrian contemporary artists]]
[[Category:Austrian male classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian male musicians]]