Arnulf Rainer

In its new exhibition, opening on October 24, 2026, the Arnulf Rainer Museum in Baden near Vienna will focus on two influential figures in Austrian art history: Arnulf Rainer and Hermann Nitsch.

This first joint exhibition presents Rainer and Nitsch not as successive chapters in Austrian art history, but as two simultaneously vibrant artistic positions. A dialogue between their works reveals common threads: process and transformation, body and trace, cross and wound, as well as the shift of art from object to experience. For the first time, an exhibition is dedicated exclusively to these two exceptional artists in a joint show.

Arnulf Rainer (b. 1929 in Baden, d. 2025 in Upper Austria) and Hermann Nitsch (b. 1938 in Vienna, d. 2022 in Mistelbach) are among the world’s best-known artists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Although they followed different paths, they are united by a radical expansion of the concept of art: the focus is not only on the finished work, but also on the artistic process and the question of what a painting actually is. Today, the two are associated in particular with their pioneering work in the field of abstract painting: Arnulf Rainer’s “Übermalungen” and Hermann Nitsch’s “Schütt- und Rinnbilder” are integral parts of the art-historical canon.

Arnulf Rainer is considered a pioneer of informal painting in Austria. With his “overpaintings”—a technique he developed beginning in the 1950s—he fundamentally revolutionized painting and gained worldwide recognition.

Hermann Nitsch was a co-founder of Viennese Actionism and, with the “Orgies Mysteries Theater,” created one of the most significant total works of art of the postwar era. As an Actionist, painter, composer, and set designer, he combined painting, music, performance, and ritual into an art form that engages all the senses.

The Zambo Collection
As part of a generous donation in 2024, Helmut Zambo transferred the core of his art collection—assembled over approximately 65 years—to the Lower Austrian State Collections. Zambo describes himself as a “deep collector” and focused on a select few artists and art movements. A central part of the donation consists of approximately 300 works by Arnulf Rainer, supplemented by significant holdings of Art Brut, Günter Brus, and Hermann Nitsch. The exhibition recreates the characteristic salon-style hanging arrangement in which he lived among his collection—an arrangement he personally recreated for the mezzanine level of the Arnulf Rainer Museum.

Dates: October 24, 2026 – October 3, 2027

The exhibition is curated by Nikolaus Kratzer, Director of the Art Collection of the State of Lower Austria, and art collector Helmut Zambo. 

Nikolaus Kratzer on the exhibition: “Arnulf Rainer was one of the discoverers and first collectors of art from Gugging. This exhibition is dedicated to his lifelong engagement with Art Brut. Both Rainer’s works and those of other Art Brut artists are distinguished by a very special form of immediacy of expression.”

Helmut Zambo on his first encounter with Art Brut: “My enthusiasm for Art Brut was sparked by a visit to Arnulf Rainer’s studio in the mid-1960s. There, I came into contact with the art from Gugging for the first time and was immediately captivated! I hope that visitors to this exhibition will have a similar experience—that they will be touched and delighted by the paintings. May their encounter with these artworks open their eyes and sensitize them to their unique beauty and expressiveness.”

Arnulf Rainer & Art Brut
With essays by Nikolaus Kratzer on Rainer’s work and Art Brut, an article by Arnulf Rainer on the artist Johann Hauser, information on the artists featured in the exhibition, and an extensive picture section with over 100 works.

Edited by Helmut Zambo and Nikolaus Kratzer
Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne
In German and English, 192 pages
Price: € 29.90
Available at the Museum Shop

With a ticket from the Nitsch Museum, you’ll receive a 50% discount on admission to the Arnulf Rainer Museum—and vice versa. This offer is valid only for the duration of the exhibition.

TIP: At the Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, you can immerse yourself in the multifaceted work of Hermann Nitsch.

Valid from October 24, 2026, through October 3, 2027.

From October 23, 2027, through October 8, 2028, the Arnulf Rainer Museum will present an exhibition comparing the works of Arnulf Rainer, Günter Brus, and Walter Pichler.

The artist's multifaceted oeuvre has been presented in numerous exhibitions since the opening of the Arnulf Rainer Museum in autumn 2009. In addition to monographic exhibitions, Rainer's significance for contemporary art is also explored through juxtapositions with artists such as Georg Baselitz, Mario Merz, and Damien Hirst.