Ernst Fuchs Landscape during a thunderstorm 1982

Ernst Fuchs was already an established artist in the early 1980s who could look back on numerous national and international successes. He was above all an important representative of the Viennese School of Fantastic Realism. For many years, his studio was the Otto Wagner Villa in Hütteldorf, which is nowadays home to the Ernst Fuchs Museum since 1986.
He drew his inspiration mainly from nature, as he even once stated famously: “The root of all art is nature.” His landscape depictions reflect this connection. They serve both as a backdrop for his mythological and erotic imagery and as a genre on their own. But Fuchs’ landscape paintings are not simply a depiction of nature, but rather representations of his inner visions. He aimed to capture those images that other people see in dreams or hallucinations. For him, the boundary between dream and reality was fluid, and this permeability characterizes his works.
The painting “Landscape during a thunderstorm” appears as a blurred dream image. With tremendous force, the storm unleashes itself across the entire canvas. Streams of color are raging, trees and meadows are tearing apart under the force of nature. Unnatural shreds of purple and turquoise clouds whip through the sky, the ground seems to be in motion. Despite the destructive power of the storm, the painting also holds hope. The use of the color purple, which is both calming, passionate and mysterious, gives the painting a magical aura. It is certainly no coincidence that Fuchs chooses this ambiguous color that lends the painting a special atmosphere.
“Landscape during a thunderstorm” is an impressive testimony to Ernst Fuchs’ visionary power and his deep connection to nature. The painting invites the viewer to question the boundaries of reality and to immerse themselves in the mystical world of Fantastic Realism.