Artist
Günter Brus(Austrian, 1938–2024)Austrian, 1938–2024
MakerDocumented by
Ludwig Hoffenreich(Austrian, 1902–1975)Austrian, 1902–1975
CultureAustrian
Titles
- Untitled
- from the portfolio Selbstbemalung II
- Self-painting II
Date1964
PlaceVienna, Austria
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 19 7/16 × 15 in. (49.4 × 38.1 cm)
Sheet: 19 7/16 × 15 in. (49.4 × 38.1 cm)
Mount: 23 5/8 × 19 5/8 in. (60 × 49.8 cm)
Sheet: 19 7/16 × 15 in. (49.4 × 38.1 cm)
Mount: 23 5/8 × 19 5/8 in. (60 × 49.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Diego Cortez in memory of his father, Allan Robert Curtis and his mother, Jean Clare Ham
Object number2008.116.10
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
Otto Muehl, Hermann Nitsch, and Rudolf Schwarzkolger, formed the principal
members of Viennese Actionism, Aktionimus.
Active during the 1960s, the group engaged in public performances, which they
titled Aktions, with the goal of
exploring repressed desires and rejecting conventional cultural taboos,
aesthetics and morality.
In this series Brus probes painting as ritual,
making himself the canvas, the recipient of his actions as a painter. Here the
photograph serves to preserve the performance, becoming the only way the
performance could be disseminated visually. By rejecting the conventional
definition of fine-art painting and performing actions on his own body that are
usually done on or to a canvas—such as cutting and painting—Brus is both
creator and object created.
ProvenanceDiego Cortez, New York; given to MFAH, 2008.
Exhibition History"Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made after 1960 from the MFAH Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Foundation Galleries, February 21 - May 9, 2010.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Stamped on verso mount lower right in a rectangle: "Damit bestätige ich die / Authentizität dieses Photos / (signature) / Alle damit nicht bezeichneten Photos / sind nicht autorisiert"
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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