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Sports blog: Warrior Nation

By VERONIKA OLEKSYN

Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria -- In one series of photos, Friedensreich Hundertwasser is shown painting pink lines on a nude model. In another, he's donning a disguise so he can fly to Paris undercover with his girlfriend.

The images are part of a new Vienna exhibit that reveals lesser known sides of the eccentric man considered by many to be Austria's most famous and controversial artist after World War II.

Hundertwasser, who died eight years ago and would have turned 80 on Dec. 15, was never one to conform. He gave speeches naked, lived in a converted pigsty in New Zealand for a while and promoted the use of environmentally friendly toilets.

The collection of his works now on display at KunstHausWien -- many from private collections -- reflect his multifaceted interests and ability to seemlessly switch styles and subjects.

Many, such as "The Foothold of Earth" or "Domestic Mountain," contain colorful spirals and wavy lines -- a Hundertwasser trademark also reflected in the quirky buildings he designed, including Vienna's Hundertwasser House.

But others don't quite fit that mold.

Two paintings -- "Alpine Huts on Green Spot" and "Buergeralm Landscape" -- show typical Austrian countryside scenes that are less abstract than others in the show titled "The Yet Unknown Hundertwasser." There's also a self-portrait that shows Hundertwasser sporting his signature cap and beard, and an image of a sleeping Slovenian child. Both are striking in their simplicity and lack of bright colors.

Especially intriguing is a large work titled "The Match of the Century" -- a soccer game scene he painted on a wooden mirror frame -- complete with comical players and spectators with cube-shaped heads.

On a 1990 calligraphy for the Seoul International Art Festival, he divulged that coming up with his creations took time.

"I am not a quick painter ... unfortunately, I have only two hands and one brain," he wrote in black on the large poster.

The exhibit, which extends over two floors, also includes miniature models of buildings he designed in the aim of creating ecologically oriented living space.

Joram Harel, who designed the exhibit, described his longtime friend as a man who "glowed in the colors of his brush."

"The Yet Unknown Hundertwasser" runs through March 15.

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