Arnulf Rainer Art for Sale: Prints & Originals

Arnulf Rainer emerged as a self-taught artist in post-war Austria, quickly establishing himself as a radical voice in the European art world. Born in Baden, Austria, in 1929, Rainer's early artistic journey began with a stint at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, which he abandoned after only three days, believing that academic training would stifle his creativity.

In the early 1950s, Rainer's work was heavily influenced by Surrealism, leading him to co-found the Hundsgruppe (Dog Group) in 1950 with Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, and Josef Mikl. This period marked the beginning of Rainer's exploration of automatic drawing and his interest in the subconscious mind.

By 1954, Rainer's artistic focus shifted dramatically towards what he termed Destruction of Forms. This new direction would become the foundation for his most recognisable and influential work - his overpaintings.

Rainer's artistic evolution took a significant turn in the late 1950s when he began his series of overpaintings. This technique involved partially or completely covering existing artworks, including reproductions of old master paintings and his own earlier works, with new layers of paint. This process of destruction and creation became a hallmark of Rainer's oeuvre, reflecting his interest in the tension between concealment and revelation.

In the 1960s, Rainer created his Face Farce series. This body of work features photographed self-portraits in which Rainer exaggerated his facial expressions, later overpainting these images with ink, oil, or crayon. This process of altering his own likeness allowed Rainer to explore themes of self-destruction and transformation, what he referred to as 'accentuated self-reproductions'.

The 1970s marked a period of international recognition for Rainer. He represented Austria at the Venice Biennale in 1978 and had major exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. During this time, Rainer also began working on his Death Masks series, overpainting photographs of death masks of historical figures, further interrogating themes of mortality and transformation.

Rainer's Unfinished Into Death is an evolving art project that began in 2011, during a collaboration with Karlyn De Jongh and Sarah Gold. Initially starting with the pair’s desire to have a single photograph of them overpainted by Rainer, it quickly expanded into an extensive and ongoing series. The project involved a wide range of subjects and performances, from ‘veil-dances’ to increasingly experimental scenes, such as slapstick, belly dancing, and even SM bondage.
As with much of Rainer's work, Unfinished Into Death focuses on overpainting — the technique that made him famous — and layers new meanings onto pre-existing imagery. This particular series taps into ideas about life, death, transformation, and the ever-evolving nature of art. A selection of 100 works from this collaboration has now been published in the special edition book Arnulf Rainer: Unfinished Into Death.
In addition to his work as a painter and photographer, Rainer was the subject of an experimental short film titled Arnulf Rainer (1978), directed by Peter Kubelka. This avant-garde project is celebrated for its minimalist approach, consisting of alternating sequences of light and darkness, accompanied by bursts of sound and silence. The film is abstracted, without a narrative or traditional images, reflecting Rainer’s interest in exploring the boundaries of perception. Much like his overpaintings, which obscure and transform the original image, Arnulf Rainer challenges viewers to engage with absence and presence in a sensory manner.
Rainer's use of the cross has been a recurring motif throughout his career. His 1983 etching Rotes Kreuz (Red Cross) exemplifies this exploration, featuring a red cross drawn with intense, energetic hatch-like strokes against a stark white background. The rough texture surrounding the cross contrasts with its geometric simplicity, creating a sense of tension and emotional weight. Through his unique approach to the cross, Rainer merged his various techniques—overpainting, blind drawing, and textural experimentation—into a poignant expression of inner turmoil.