Early Life, Family and Training

Erwin Bohatsch enters the scene on October 8, 1951, in Mürzzuschlag, Styria, Austria. The landscape of his upbringing is rooted in this Austrian region, a setting that precedes a life defined by the tension between form and surface. He is part of a creative lineage; his brother, Walter Bohatsch, works as a graphic artist, while another brother, Helmut Bohatsch, moves through the worlds of music and acting.

The formal shaping of his hand begins in Graz. From 1966 to 1970, Bohatsch attends the Kunstgewerbeschule Graz, studying under the guidance of Otto Brunner. These years establish the technical foundation of his practice. He moves from the applied arts of Graz to the more rigorous academic environment of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Between 1971 and 1976, he refines his vision under Walter Eckert, a period that marks his transition into the professional sphere of Austrian painting.

Artistic Movements and Career Periods

The early 1980s mark a period of intense figuration for Bohatsch. He emerges within the Austrian art scene as a member of the "Neue Malerei" (New Painting) group. His canvases during this era carry the hallmarks of the Neue Wilde movement, characterized by neo-expressionism. The works lean into organic forms and a palette of bleak colors, reacting against the conceptualism that dominated the previous decade. As a member of the New Savages, his practice aligns with a broader effort to renew the aesthetic phenomenon of painting through a return to expressive, material-focused works.

A shift occurs in the late 1980s. The narrative and figurative elements begin to recede. Bohatsch departs from the expressive intensity of his earlier period, moving toward a phase of abstract reduction. This transition strips away the organic motifs of his youth, replacing them with a focus on the essential properties of the medium. By the 1990s, this evolution deepens. He increasingly devotes his practice to Colour Field painting, moving away from the jagged edges of neo-expressionism toward a more meditative exploration of light and pigment.

Teaching and Academic Positions

The mid-1980s mark a shift toward professional expansion for Bohatsch. In 1984/85, he moves to Berlin for a one-year working stay, supported by a DAAD scholarship. This period in Germany precedes a series of teaching engagements across Europe during the early 1990s.

The academic circuit becomes a recurring setting in his career. In 1992, he teaches at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg. The following year, 1993, finds him at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Gomera. By 1994, the focus shifts back to Germany, where he instructs at the Berlin Summer Academy, Fine Arts.

A long-term institutional presence defines his later career. From 2005 to 2020, Bohatsch holds a professorship for abstract painting at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna. This fifteen-year tenure anchors his influence within the Viennese academic landscape.

Technique and Artistic Style

The canvas functions as a site of constant oscillation. Bohatsch moves between figuration and abstraction, navigating the tension between color and non-color, line and surface. His process involves a deliberate abstract reduction, often utilizing the application of bands of color to structure the pictorial space. He builds depth through a layered approach, partially sealing off specific sections and veiling them with subsequent applications of paint. A spatula becomes a primary tool, used to spread translucent colored surfaces across the work.

In his more recent output, the pictorial field transforms into a heterogeneous matrix. Here, the composition shifts between sharply outlined forms and open painting fields characterized by roughly applied brushstrokes. This method creates a friction between controlled geometry and spontaneous gesture. The work avoids simple narrative, focusing instead on the physical properties of the medium and the way light interacts with the varying densities of the paint layers.

Key Works and Notable Pieces

The transition from the organic, bleakly colored motifs of the early 1980s toward a more stripped-back abstraction is visible in the evolution of his central subjects. In 1986, Zacken emerges from this period, marking a moment where the artist begins to move away from the narrative-heavy approaches of the New Painting movement. By 1992, the work Night Picture shifts the focus toward the interplay of light and color, a preoccupation that would define much of his later output.

As the decades progress, the titles of the works often recede, replaced by the concept of the Untitled series. These pieces act as experimental sites for his technical investigations. In the late 1990s, works from 1996 and 1997 explore the tension between line and surface. This process continues through the turn of the millennium, with pieces from 2002, 2004, and 2006 testing the limits of the pictorial field. The artist uses these canvases to experiment with the application of color bands and the veiling of layers, a method that reaches a point of refined reduction in his 2009 works.

• Zacken (1986)
• Night Picture (1992)
• Untitled (1996)
• Untitled (1997)
• Untitled (2002)
• Untitled (2004)

Awards and Recognition

The 1980s mark a shift in the trajectory of Bohatsch's career. As his work moves from the organic forms of the "Neue Malerei" toward a more stripped-back abstraction, his presence expands beyond the Austrian borders. This period brings a steady accumulation of international recognition, placing his practice within the broader European discourse of the time.

Institutional validation arrives in significant stages. In 1983, he receives the Otto-Mauer-Preis, a distinction that signals his rising importance within the Austrian art scene. A decade later, in 1996, the city of Vienna honors his contributions with the Preis der Stadt Wien für Bildende Kunst. These accolades coincide with his emergence as a leading figure in Austrian art history, specifically regarding the evolution of abstract painting.

Where to See the Works Today

The physical presence of Bohatsch’s paintings and works on paper spans several major institutional collections across Austria. In Vienna, his output is held within the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (MUMOK) and the Albertina. The BA-CA Kunstforum Wien also maintains works from his practice. These collections place his exploration of abstraction and figuration within the broader context of Austrian art history.

Beyond the capital, his pieces move through significant regional and private holdings. The Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg house his works, while the Kunsthaus Bregenz holds others. The Sammlung Essl – Kunsthaus in Klosterneuburg and the Sammlung Deutsche Bank also include his pieces in their permanent collections. These locations track the movement of his canvases from the early days of the Neue Malerei through his later focus on color field painting.