Newsletter
Register to get the latest information and travel deals.
Additional Portals
Weiler, Max (1910-2001)
Copyright: IMAGNO/Franz Hubmann
Max Weiler was born on 27 August 1910 in Absam (Tirol), where he attended the local painting school. Weiler was a strong individual, one who was never linked to any artistic organization or identified with a single artistic trend. From his figurative painting, Weiler gradually moved on to abstraction. He abandoned the subdued, almost monochromatic compositions of the 1930s and '40s for more expressive, colorful pictures. In his "abstract landscapes" he would sprinkle paint on the canvas, letting it flow down freely, but nothing was ever accidental.
In his paintings, he tried to express his impressions and experiences in the face of the nature, thus attempting to grasp the sense of it. In 1936 the architect Clemens Holzmeister asked Weiler to assist in designing the interior of the Austria Chapel at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937. After a short stay in Rome, Max Weiler worked as assistant teacher in Telfs and Zams (Tirol), married in 1941 and drafted for the German Army in 1942. When the war was over, Weiler renovated a large atelier in Innsbruck where he created his drawings, mosaics, glass paintings, prints, ceramic wall paintings, watercolors and frescoes (e.g. for the main station and the Stadtsaal in Innsbruck and the Friedenskirche in Lienz). His frescoes in Theresienkirche (1947) on Hungerburg in Innsbruck met with harsh public criticism and even lawsuits for disgracing peasantry. In 1950 Weiler forestalled the Vatican’s plans to destroy his frescoes by covering them up.
In the years to follow he created many works for public spaces, especially for communal buildings in Tirol. During his creative period he also tried himself at ceramic arts. In 1960 Weiler represented Austria at the Art Biennale in Venice and started his self reflections titled “Day and Night Journals”, which, by 1991, consisted of twenty volumes. In 1961 he was honored with the Great Austrian State Prize. Between 1964 and 1981 Weiler taught master classes for painting at the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts. In 1979 he was awarded the Decoration for Science and Art. Max Weiler died on 29 January 2001 in Vienna and is buried in a cenotaph at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
Private Max Weiler Foundation
In his paintings, he tried to express his impressions and experiences in the face of the nature, thus attempting to grasp the sense of it. In 1936 the architect Clemens Holzmeister asked Weiler to assist in designing the interior of the Austria Chapel at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937. After a short stay in Rome, Max Weiler worked as assistant teacher in Telfs and Zams (Tirol), married in 1941 and drafted for the German Army in 1942. When the war was over, Weiler renovated a large atelier in Innsbruck where he created his drawings, mosaics, glass paintings, prints, ceramic wall paintings, watercolors and frescoes (e.g. for the main station and the Stadtsaal in Innsbruck and the Friedenskirche in Lienz). His frescoes in Theresienkirche (1947) on Hungerburg in Innsbruck met with harsh public criticism and even lawsuits for disgracing peasantry. In 1950 Weiler forestalled the Vatican’s plans to destroy his frescoes by covering them up.
In the years to follow he created many works for public spaces, especially for communal buildings in Tirol. During his creative period he also tried himself at ceramic arts. In 1960 Weiler represented Austria at the Art Biennale in Venice and started his self reflections titled “Day and Night Journals”, which, by 1991, consisted of twenty volumes. In 1961 he was honored with the Great Austrian State Prize. Between 1964 and 1981 Weiler taught master classes for painting at the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts. In 1979 he was awarded the Decoration for Science and Art. Max Weiler died on 29 January 2001 in Vienna and is buried in a cenotaph at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof.
Private Max Weiler Foundation
Accommodations