Christian Ludwig ATTERSEE

Christian Ludwig Attersee was born in 1940 in Bratislava/Slovakia and moved
to Austria in 1944; today he lives in Vienna and Semmering in Lower Austria.
Attersee spent his youth in Aschach near Linz and in Attersee, Upper
Austria; he was one of the great sailing sportsmen of Austria - thus his nom
de plume Attersee. He made his name not only as an artist in the fine and
visual arts, but also as a musician, writer, object maker, designer, set
designer and film maker.
Attersee is noted first and foremost as one of the leading exponents of
objective painting in Europe during the last 50 years; he is a lone wolf in
nearly all fields of the visual arts.
First exhibitions starting in the mid-sixties bring success, also the
friendship and collaboration with artists like Günter Brus, Gotthard
Graubner, Jörg Immendorff, Markus Lüpertz, Hermann Nitsch, Walter Pichler,
Dieter Roth, Gerhard Rühm, Oswald Wiener et al.
Ever since Attersee's first objective inventions (1964-66) in the sphere of
eroticism and everyday he has been appraised as an independent influence
alongside other artists in European pop art.
Attersee is the great lone wolf of Austrian art of the sixties, counterpole
to Viennese actionism. In the second half of the seventies, Attersee was the
founding figure of "New Austrian Painting".
In 1984 Attersee represents Austria with extraordinary success at the
Biennale di Venezia.
1990 - 2009, professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (for
painting, animation film and tapestry).
In spring 2002, a comprehensive retrospective of Attersee's work is
presented in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. In 2005 a major Attersee
exhibition including works of the last 5 years is shown in the Vienna BA-CA
Kunstforum; this is taken over in an augmented form in summer 2006 by the
Würth Collection, Künzelsau.
In spring 2005 the ballet "Petrushka" by Igor Stravinsky is performed in a
set by Attersee; in May 2006 the ballet "Amadé" at the Belgrade Madlenianum.
In autumn 2006 for six weeks, the Viennese Ringturm tower is wrapped in a
painted Don Giovanni composition by Attersee.
2007: decorations for the 1st Liederball of the Vienna Men's Choral Society
in the Kursalon Vienna. In November the artist finishes the interior mosaic
"Reichtum Erde" (Earth's Riches) in the Geological Federal Institute in
Vienna.
2008 Richard Strauss' "Salome" was given in a production, the stage setting and costumes by Attersee at the Theatre Bremen.
2015: in the course of the Bruckner-festival the opera "Weiße Rose" by Udo Zimmermann takes place in a stage by Attersee attended with an exhibiton at the foyer.

In May 1998 he is awarded the Grand Austrian State Prize 1997 for art.
In summer 2004 he receives the Lovis Corinth Prize of the Künstlergilde
Esslingen / Germany.
In September 2005 he is awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art 1st Class.

More than 500 solo exhibitions in many countries of Europe and the USA.