Wolfgang Hollegha
1929–2023
Wolfgang Hollegha (1929–2023) is regarded as one of the most important exponents of abstract painting in Austria. He was born in Klagenfurt and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1947 to 1954 under Josef Dobrowsky and Herbert Boeckl. In 1956 he founded the Malergruppe St. Stephan together with Josef Mikl, Markus Prachensky and Arnulf Rainer. He gained international recognition early on: in 1958 he received the Guggenheim International Award and in 1961 the Carnegie Prize in Pittsburgh. In 1964 he took part in documenta III in Kassel, and in 1967 he represented Austria at the São Paulo Biennial. From 1962 he lived and worked on the Rechberg in Styria. There he built a wooden studio some 14 metres high. From 1972 to 1997 he led a master class in painting at the Vienna Academy. His large-format paintings start from the observation of nature. He saw abstraction not as a turn away from nature but as a path towards it. Hollegha died in 2023 at his house on the Rechberg.
Works
Biography
Education 1947–1954 Studies at the Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien (Academy of Fine Arts Vienna) under Josef Dobrowsky and Herbert Boeckl, Vienna Solo exhibitions (selection) 1952 Wolfgang Hollegha, Art-Club-Galerie, Vienna 1957 Hollegha. Ölbilder und Graphik, Secession, Vienna 1960 Wolfgang Hollegha. New Paintings, French and Company, New York 1961 Wolfgang Hollegha. Paintings, Everett Ellin Gallery, Los Angeles 1964 Wolfgang Hollegha. Bilder und Zeichnungen, Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne 1967 Wolfgang Hollegha, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna 1976 Solo exhibition, André Emmerich Gallery, New York 1988 Wolfgang Hollegha – Neue Bilder 1984–1987, Künstlerhaus Graz, Graz 2004 Hollegha, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg 2015 Die Natur ist innen. Der Maler Wolfgang Hollegha, Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz 2019 Wolfgang Hollegha, Strabag Kunstforum, Vienna 2025 Es gibt allerdings Unaussprechliches. Der Maler Wolfgang Hollegha, Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz Group exhibitions (selection) 1959 Group exhibition with American Abstract Expressionists (at the invitation of Clement Greenberg), French and Company, New York 1961 Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh 1964 Group exhibition, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York 1964 documenta III, Kassel 1967 IX Bienal de São Paulo (Austrian contribution), São Paulo Awards 1958 Guggenheim International Award (national award for Austria), New York 1961 Carnegie Prize, Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh 1965 Theodor Körner Prize, Vienna 1967 Joanneum Art Prize, Graz 1984 City of Vienna Prize for Fine Arts, Vienna 1986 Honorary Prize of the Province of Styria, Graz 1990 Gold Medal of Honour of the Federal Capital Vienna, Vienna 2019 Grand Gold Decoration of Honour of the Province of Styria, Graz Collections Albertina, Vienna mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Portland Art Museum, Portland (Oregon) Publications 2015 Die Natur ist innen. Der Maler Wolfgang Hollegha, ed. by Günther Holler-Schuster and Peter Pakesch, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne