Arnulf Rainer
(1929)
Untitled (1957)
Signed TRR upper center
Ink on offset exhibition poster, 100.6 x 34.9 cm
Provenance:
– Galerie Dato, Frankfurt
– Private collection, Germany
Literature:
Maria Lassnig – Arnulf Rainer, Das Frühwerk, Ausstellungskatalog Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Verlag der Buchhandlung König, Cologne, 2019, S. 219
Note:
A similar work is part of the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (obj.no. TK_O-28).

Arnulf Rainer is an Austrian artist known for his use of appropriation and his process of layering paint over photographs, transforming existing artworks by layering them with thick, gestural marks. This specific work is one of these so-called 'Übermalungen”.
During his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism. In 1950, he founded the Hundsgruppe (translated as 'dog group') together with Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, and Josef Mikl. At this time Rainer started signing his paintings only with TRR.

After 1954, Rainer's style evolved towards abstract 'Destruction of Forms', with blackenings, overpaintings, and maskings of illustrations and photographs dominating his later work. On his oeuvre the artist mused: “The principles of my works are the extinction of expression, permanent covering and contemplative tranquility […] My ideal is the completely dark picture, full of some overwhelming silence.”
Rainer's works are shown in the Museum of Modern Art, the Arnulf Rainer Museum in Baden Austria and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. As the culmination of the appraisal of his work, the Arnulf Rainer Museum opened in New York City in 1993.
* Condition report available upon request