Gouache on paper
Austria, around 1955
Rudolf Petrik (1922-1991) – Austrian artist and writer
Signed with pencil ‘Petrik’ lower right
Verso with estate stamp
Dimensions: 38.5 x 50 cm
Good condition
Art works by the Vienna Secessionist Rudolf Petrik are not just of interest to collectors of Austrian Modernism. Rarely seen on the art market, a painting by Petrik fetched a staggering 4.500 Euros at an auction in 1933. Auctionata is delighted to present further works of the artist’s estate!

This abstract composition was painted by the artist Rudolf Petrik and dates back to the time around 1955, when Petrik became a member of the Viennese Secession and started to influence the development of Austrian abstract art a great deal. At this time, he produced numerous works in different techniques, such as oil and gouache, with which he subsequently left his former figurative style behind. Our piece shows an abstract-geometric composition of gray, light and dark red forms and lines that were set adjacently onto the paper. The resulting pattern reflects the artist’s fine feeling for proportions and color harmonies.



The paper is in a good condition with only small traces of age and use. There are tiny nail holes in the corners. The work is signed ‘Petrik’ with pencil at the lower right. Verso, it is additionally signed with pencil and shows the estate stamp. The paper measures 38.5 cm in height and 50 cm in width. (cbo)



Rudolf Petrik (1922-1991)

Rudolf Petrik was born in 1922 in Vienna where he studied at the academy of arts under Robin Christian Andersen and Josef Dubrowsky. The influence of his teachers can be detected in this early body of work, in which he painted in a naturalistic manner. As off 1952 his work shifted to a more geometric use of form, mostly rendered in oil or gouache. In 1953, Petrik became a member of the renowned Vienna Secession. In the following years he took part in numerous group exhibitions alongside some of the most famous Austrian artists of the time such as Wolfgang Hollegha, Fritz Wotruba, Arnulf Rainer, Josef Mikl, Maria Lassnig and Markus Prachensky. He was one of the artists that shaped the avant-garde art movement in Austria. They wanted to free their work from all representation and put their work in context with current international art movements that were coming in. A platform for these artists to meet and mingle was Monsignore Otto Mauer’s gallery “Nächst St. Stephan” in Vienna’s Grünangergasse.



As off the mid-1960s Petrik was occupied with finding a way to visually transform writings into his picture planes. He incorporated quotes, as well as notes from his diaries into his art works and called these ‘Schriftbilder’ (‘Writing Pictures’). He created this body of work as means to counteract the loss of literature.



Next to his profession as an artist, Petrik was also known for his writings as an author. He was involved with the contemporary literary scene surrounding Ernst Jandl, Friederike Mayröcker and Ilse Aichinger. The art historian Otto Breicha described Petrik’s work in a couple of text passages and paid his respect to the entire body of work. Today his work can be found in the Austrian Gallery Belvedere in Vienna, in the Neue Gallery in Linz, as well as numerous private collections, as for example the Collection Leopold.

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