- Opened: 1966
- Country: Austria
- Website: www.galerie10.at
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Galerie 10 was opened in 1966 by Manfred Scheer, a very astute businessman. Not only did he recognise the potential of the emerging Vienna Fantastic Realists, he was very adept at piping a tune and have the media play along.
Things may have been different in those days when the internet as we know it did not exist and we were not yet suffering from information overload, and print media was still king of the castle. But it was certainly evident that Manfred was very adept at garnering free press.
Manfred made the Vienna Fantastics very rich men, along with himself. It was he that made their careers. So was the legend of Galerie 10 built on the following artists: Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner, Anton Lehmden, Wolfgang Hutter, Helmut Kand and Manfred Deix.
When Manfred died, his wife took over managing the gallery. Their son Michael then also started working in the gallery. When his mother could no longer work in the gallery, Michael took over.
So for many years after Manfred’s death, it was largely business as usual. There was no new work being showed, and the gallery was surviving from the copious amounts of prints that Manfred had snapped up in the past.
Selling the Fantastics in Vienna had become problematic because of changes in the art market and the official art establishment. With their following of art fashions, they became very aggressive towards Fantastic Art. Fantastic Realism became a dirty word in official Austrian art circles. The clique of contemporary art has a strangle hold on the museums, galleries and institutions as in other parts of the world.
What looked like triumph a couple of years ago where the Fantastics were presented in the Belvedere Museum was but an attempt to put a nail in the coffin of the movement and announce with a retrospective, that it was history, thus dead and buried. This is evident by the deaf ears who ignored De Es Schwertberger’s lobbying to have the younger generations included, or at least a separate exhibition.
Along comes Amanda Sage, who knows the world of Fuchs inside out. She was the one who convinced Michael Scheer to bring new blood into the gallery, starting with herself, since she was schooled first by Michael Fuchs, and then worked for Ernst Fuchs himself. Amanda has been constantly agitating to bring more people to the party. However, at this time, her world was Fuchs.
So when in the Winter of 2007 Leo Plaw came to Vienna. He found it very strange that after 10 years of living in Vienna that Amanda did know the other half of Fantastic Vienna. After all, the Vienna Fantastic Realists consisted of more than just Fuchs. The likes of Brauer, Hausner and Hutter also went on to teach and also had many students. So the current “younger” generation of Vienna Fantastics, Wessi, Peter Gric, Luigi La Speranza, Benedetto Fellin, Hanno Karlhuber, were NOT taught by Fuchs.
It is these artists that Leo had previously made friendships with in 2003 and had stayed in contact with ever since. So during his stay in Vienna, he organised a gathering at Luigi’s studio. Michael Scheer was also invited along. Thus Amanda also befriended the other artists. She then started to further encourage Michael to explore a new start for Galerie 10, and show new and fresh artwork. She has also been working to bring some of the American names to the gallery.
Then in 2010, the youngest generation of Fantastic artists were exhibited in the “Irresistible Flow of Time” exhibition.
Galerie 10
Getreidemarkt 10
A-1010 Vienna
Austria
Tel: +43 1 58757 44
E-Mail: kunst @ galerie10 . at
www.galerie10.at
Opening Hours:
Monday and Friday 10am – 6pm
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