... published on the occasion of the exhibitions ‘Wolfgang Hollegha. There are, however, things that cannot be put into words’, Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum, 4 April - 2 November 2025, ‘Wolfgang Hollegha. Don't think, look!’, Museum Reinhard Ernst, Wiesbaden, 15 March - 25 October 2026

Edited by Günther Holler-Schuster for the Association of Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Joanneum and the Reinhard and Sonja Ernst Foundation, Wiesbaden
Texts: Günther Holler-Schuster, Oliver Kornhoff, Stephen Moonie, Peter Peer, Lea Schäfer, Renate Wiehager

Table of Contents

Cologne: Wienand 2025
ISBN 978-3-86832-844-8
Language: German / English
Pages: 184

Description:

In his observation of nature, Wolfgang Hollegha (1929–2023) begins his dialogue between figuration and abstraction: “If I didn't have the visible as a starting point, what I do would be purely arbitrary scribbling. I need the visible world as a starting point in order to transform it.” This transformation is a deeply personal process – perception is physical.

Hollegha is widely regarded as one of Austria's most important painters since 1945. As early as 1960, he enjoyed great success in New York, where he was closely involved with the American art scene. Despite this international recognition, he made a conscious decision to settle in Rechberg, near Graz. Far from the art metropolises, he created colourful, sometimes monumental works over six decades. As a master of precise condensation and reduction, Hollegha remains highly relevant in an age of omnipresent visual stimuli.