My hommage to the recently passed away Hundertwasser
 

 

   
Land of Men, Trees, Birds, and Ships   -  1950 - Saint-Mandee/Seine France

Famous words of the Dutch poet Slauerhoff happened to be; “my home lays in my poems only”. For Hundertwasser we could use the alternative reading; “my home lays in my creations only”. His paintings are so playful, so free from boundaries and yet they are in an organic way connected to everything in nature, that this commitment gives away his real poetic home.
Hundertwasser was like the poet Slauerhoff a traveler by heart and these nomadic souls embrace the world in it’s magnificence totality. Only allowing themselves a temporary stop in the arms of a lover, or an inspiring friend.

The painting I have chosen for this introduction is a clear example of such an alliance. 
During his first mayor trip Hundertwasser traveled to Italy where he met the French painter René Bro and his companions. Bro was well known for his odd heads with the almond shaped eyes. While Hundertwasser had a real passion for trees. They mixed their fascinations together in a daring experiment. As they worked together on the painting above. The image is done by Bro, while Hundertwasser gave it color.

 

Underneath all the other images I have given notification of the materials  used for the creations. The PC is very well capable to reflect beautiful colors, but what’s lacking is the structure of an image. While this is of utmost importance in the work of this artist. Poor as he was at his early start, he used about everything he could lay his hands on. Often his creations were done on delicate pieces of rice-paper. Which were easy to take on his travels. In a later phase the small pieces were glued together .
When, in the sixties, I first got acquaintance with his art it was this very specific and playful use of materials which opened my heart.

For closing I would love to use these winged words of Hundertwasser; 'Everything is indefinitely simple. Everything is indefinitely beautiful’.
To be able to understand the essential of this almost Boedhistic pronunciation we have to place it into the light of his process of growth. Here is not the place to go into all that. The only thing I tried to achieve was to rise your curiosity for more. 
Believe me, a man who could almost directly benefit from artists like Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, and who’s thoughts came straight in opposition to the famous rationalist Loos, doesn’t bring only delicious eye-candy, but brings also mighty interesting stuff to read about.