Bloodlines: Paintings by Hermann Nitsch highlighted the explosive and vibrant canvases produced during the artist’s dramatic ​“Aktionen,” or performance actions, and featured six major ​“Schüttbilder” (spill paintings) as well as related objects and music. As relics of Nitsch’s dynamic and exuberant performances, these paintings and the related vestments reflect two primary sources of inspiration: the sanctity of religious ritual and the drama of Abstract Expressionist painting.

The works offer a glimpse into the artist’s comprehensive, creative production, from his music compositions, to the vestments incorporated into the paintings, to the forceful, abstract, poured and spilled paintings themselves. This exhibition is a small tribute to this pioneering artist’s prolific career as a performer, impresario, composer, agitator, and painter. 

Hermann Nitsch was born in 1938 in Vienna, where he currently lives and works. He was a member of the Vienna Actionists group and opened the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach, Austria in 2007. His works are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Gallery, London; and the Essl Collection of Contemporary Art, Austria, among others.