Schüttbild (1), 1986

Nitsch’s work began with the modified concept of color, developed in painting from the postwar period, where color was not only a chromatic value, but also a material, a fluid onto which the gesture could be imprinted, using a brush or a spatula.

Inspired by this renewed body of color, Nitsch developed paintings created through the Schüttbild (splatter painting) method, applying a stream of color to a raw canvas, hung vertically. These works compositionally exploit the explosion of the scribble and the downward drips.

After these first experiments, the aspect of the action that determines the painting gradually takes on growing importance, culminating in his “Orgien Mysterien Theater.” [...]