MEIN NITSCH

kuratiert von Karlheinz Essl

In 2025, the nitsch museum in Mistelbach presents the exhibition ‘My Nitsch’, curated by the internationally renowned art collector and long-time companion of Hermann Nitsch, Karlheinz Essl. From Sunday, 30 March to Sunday, 30 November, the show provides a personal insight into the work of the visionary artist and presents selected works from the Essl Collection. Visitors may look forward to new perspectives and exciting impulses.

‘My Nitsch’ is art collector Karlheinz Essl’s personal view of Hermann Nitsch’s life’s work. From the mid-1980s, Agnes and Karlheinz Essl focussed much of their collecting activities on Hermann Nitsch and dedicated several exhibitions to him in the following years. A friendship developed between collector and artist, which led to joint journeys, a lively exchange and intensive correspondence, which often dealt with philosophical and theological questions. With ‘My Nitsch’, Karlheinz Essl now provides deep insights into Nitsch’s world view. With numerous works from Nitsch’s most important periods and his later years, the collector traces the artist’s development towards a wealth of colour and addresses the artist’s preoccupation with the big questions of where we come from, where we are going, what was before us and what will be after us.

Karlheinz Essl is an art collector and museum founder. Since the 1970s, together with his wife Agnes, he has built up the Essl Collection, one of the largest and most important collections of contemporary art in Austria. In 1999, he opened the Essl Museum, where more than 200 exhibitions were on display up to 2016, many of which he curated himself. In addition to international art, his exhibition and collection activities focus on Austrian art since 1945.

The exhibition will open on Saturday, 29 March 2025 at 18:00.