Gottfried Helnwein
(Austrian, born 1948)
Biography
Gottfried Helnwein is an Austrian-Irish contemporary visual artist, best known for his Photorealistic paintings of disturbing subject matter. His early work often featured children covered in blood or in mortal danger: his painting Life not Worth Living (1979) depicts a dead little girl with her head lying on a dinner plate, originally published alongside an article about a serial killer pediatrician in Austria, bringing the artist both fame and notoriety overnight. Born on October 8, 1948 in Vienna, Austria, Helnwein studied at the University of Visual Art in the city of his birth. In addition to his paintings, the artist has also created large-scale performance art he calls Aktions and which have included tanks, ammunition, and bandaged children. Among Helmwein’s collectors is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who hung his painting Death Valley (2002) in the California Governor’s office in 2007. Helmwein’s first solo show in the United States was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2004, and in 2009 he was awarded a Steiger Award for his contributions to visual arts and culture.
Gottfried Helnwein
(415 results)
.jpg "Fallen Angel (James Dean), 1985")
.jpg "Untitled (Madonna with Child)")
.jpg "Head of a Child 15 (Molly), 2012")
English (US)
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