Herbert Brandl

Brandl was born in Graz on 17 January 1959. He studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna from 1978 with and Peter Weibel. Weibel taught experimental art forms but Brandl only wanted to paint. From the early 1980s, Herbert Brandl exhibited at the Peter Pakesch Gallery in Vienna. From the mid-1980s, Brandl took part in international exhibitions, including the Biennale de Paris (1985), the São Paulo Biennale (1989), at the Musée d'Art de la Ville de Paris (1990), Documenta 9 (1992) and 'Painting on the Move' at the Kunsthalle Basel, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Basel (2002). He represented Austria at the 2007 Biennale, filling the Hoffmann Pavillon with his art, and one canvas was shown outside. Three major exhibitions were dedicated to his works in 2020, at the Belvedere 21 in Vienna, the Kunsthaus Graz and the Künstlerhaus Graz (now ). His works are part of major collections such as the Albertina in Vienna, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. Brandl taught at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1998 and was from 2004 to 2019 a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Brandl lived and worked in Vienna, running a studio in an industrial park. He died there from a heart attack on 27 July 2025, at the age of 66. == Work ==

Brandl was part of the Junge Wilde trend, sticking to traditional media and reviving Expressionism Brandl's interest in painting mountain landscapes arose after a visit to Switzerland in 2000. While his paintings resemble the mountain ranges of the Himalayas and the Dolomites, his works are untitled and do not depict identifiable mountains. Instead, Brandl sought to pursue an investigation into the intrinsic quality of a mountain, dispensing with its name altogether. "The process of going from a blank canvas to a mountain on the canvas is perhaps, for me, like a simulated alpine experience", he explained. His style was influenced by Zen Buddhism, with its attention to simplicity and spontaneity. Brandl also had a passion for collecting Buddhist art. He also painted rivers, forests and animals, especially cats and hyenas, interested in "light, wind, fog, rocks or forests", trying not to depict them, like impressionists, but reacting to them in an "inner process". Stella Rollig, the director of the Belvedere in Vienna when his art was exhibited in 2020, summarised it as "radically romantic" ("radikal romantisch"). His works show pure nature without people and their traces. == Awards ==

• 1997 Preis für Bildende Kunst from the city of Vienna • 2024 for science, research and art • 2025 Grand Austrian State Prize (posthumous) == References ==