Austrian artist Christian Ludwig Attersee has opened his first large-scale exhibition in New York City, with a career-defining lineup of abstract, surrealist and pop artworks that span from the 1960s to the present. Nestled inside Isabelle Bscher’s Galerie Gmurzynska on the Upper East Side, the showcase, titled Attersee: Beautiful Like His Paintings, looks to pay tribute to the artist’s historical influence, specifically that over Post-War painting.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Attersee first discovered his love for the arts in his youth, when he moved to Austria and began creating comics at Lake Attersee (hence his surname). In the late ’50s and early ’60s, he attended the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he fine-tuned his painting practice. He opened his first solo show in Berlin in 1966; and after attracting attention for his striking canvases, he went on to host exhibitions at the likes of London’s Royal Academy, Berlin’s National Galerie and Vienna’s Albertina, to name a few.
Max Hollein, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, once famously commented on Attersee’s portfolio, stating, “Within the art world ever since the 1960s, Attersee has been a solitary activist for an inventive and sweeping art of life and passion, a positively provocative celebration of the artist as an inventor and beautifier of the world that we live in.”
Galerie Gmurzynska’s latest exhibition will include a number of Attersee’s highly-revered works, including his angelic Das Süßeste vom Süßen (1966), his cake-inspired Torte mit Speisekugeln und Speiseblau (Backe, Backe Kuchen) (1966) and his kaleidoscopic Elvis homage, Elvis-Stelzengliedschmuck (1970), among several others.
Attersee: Beautiful Like His Paintings will remain open at Galerie Gmurzynska New York, located at 43 East 78th Street, through January 31, 2024. Take a look inside the showcase in the gallery above.
