Watercolour on paper, mounted on hardboard USA, 1980 Gottfried Helnwein (born 1948) – one of the most famous contemporary Austrian artists Signed and dated lower right ‘G. Helnwein, Mrz. 80’ Coverimage for Michael Jackson’s ‘Scream’ Overall dimensions, framed: 157,5 x 117 cm Provenance: Viennese private collection Gottfried Helnwein is currently one of the most exciting contemporary Austrian artist. This year he was honoured with a retrospective at the Albertina in Vienna and a new auction record for one of his works has only recently been achieved: his paintings fetch up to 110,000 euros at auction This large-scale watercolor by the Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein was created in 1980. It shows a theme which occupies a central position in the artist’s oeuvre – the child. By the end of the 1970s Helnwein became known for his hyperrealist images of wounded and bandaged children. The young girl presented here seems unharmed at first glance, but as she stands in the corner only in her underwear and screaming at the top of her voice, she is an utmost unsettling sight. Helnwein’s imageries are heavily influenced by the artist’s own childhood experiences in a bleak post-war Vienna. It is savage, cruel and of monumental expressiveness. Helnwein’s art asks unpleasant questions, subverts the beholder’s mechanisms of repression. But we are left to our own with the search of an answer. Flawlessly executed, this work on paper is undoubtedly a major work by the artist. A powerful image that, like all of Helnwein’s works, is deeply touching. The work is featured in the booklet of Michael Jackson’s album ‘HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I’, which was released in 1995. On page 33, it aptly illustrates the famous song ‘Scream’. The artist was a personal friend of the King of Pop and accompanied him and Lisa Marie Presley during the filming of the teaser video for the ‘History’ album in Budapest. The watercolor by Gottfried Helnwein is of an optically appealing look with few surface marks. However, several long tears have been disguised due to the mounting on board, some of which have been touched up. These condition flaws are only apparent on close inspection. Framed the work measures 157.5 x 117 cm. The sheet is mounted on board. The latter measures 156.5 x 116.5 cm. The work is signed and dated lower right ‘G. Helnwein, Mrz. 80’. Gottfried Helnwein (b. 1948) Gottfried Helnwein was born 1948 in Vienna and is considered one of the best-known Austrian contemporary artists. He studied painting in Rudolf Hausner’s (1914-1995) master class at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Vienna between 1969 and 1973. Helnwein often works with diverse materials and has consequently created an extensive body of work already, including paintings, photography, performance and installations. In 1997 he moved to Ireland with his family and became an Irish citizen in 2004. He purchased a second studio in Los Angeles in 2002. Gottfried Helnwein is internationally successful and his works are exhibited worldwide. He has had numerous solo exhibitions, for example in Paris, San Francisco, Beijing or Saint Petersburg. Earlier this year a large retrospective of his works was shown in the Albertina in Vienna. Gottfried Helnwein lives and works in Ireland and Los Angeles. Starting Price : 24000