Ernst Fuchs Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Ernst Fuchs (1930 – 2015) was an Austrian artist, founder of the Viennese school of fantastic realism. He was born an only child in Vienna in 1930. Read the full biography

Ernst Fuchs (1930 – 2015) was an Austrian artist, founder of the Viennese school of fantastic realism. He was born an only child in Vienna in 1930. His carefree childhood ended with the entry of the Nazis into Austria in 1938. While his father emigrated, Ernst was interned in a transit camp for Jews; only the formal divorce from his mother prevented his deportation. Fuchs was baptized in 1942. At the age of fifteen in 1945 he was admitted to the Academy of Visual Arts at Schillerplatz. Until 1950, Fuchs studied with Professor Albert Paris von Gütersloh. Von Gütersloh's painting class became the center of the so-called Viennese School of Fantastic Realism, of which Fuchs was the leading practitioner. The artist lived and worked in Paris from 1950 to 1962. His travels took him to America, Italy, Spain and England. He devoted himself to the seclusion of a monastery in Jerusalem for several months during 1957 and painted his Last Supper for the refectory there. He was promoted to professor in 1966. In the early 1970s, Fuchs purchased the Villa Wagner in Wien-Hütteldorf, which he transformed into his living and working space. Subsequently, he designed sets and costumes for opera and ballet and wrote philosophical essays and poems. Fuchs' works have been awarded in numerous international solo exhibitions. His first major retrospective was held at Palazzo Piagini in Venice. Other retrospectives followed at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and Gruyère Castle in Switzerland, as well as at the Harrach Palace in Vienna. Fuchs lived and worked in Monte Carlo. Villa Otto Wagner was transformed into a private museum in 1988 and houses the Fuchs collection.