The Life and Training of Jürgen Messensee

Jürgen Messensee entered the world on August 29, 1936, in Vienna, Austria. This city would remain the central setting for his life and his creative development. He began his formal training at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he studied from 1955 to 1960. During these formative years, he was a student of Sergius Pauser, working to refine his understanding of the visual language that would define his later years.

His connection to Vienna was deep and enduring. He lived and worked within the city throughout his long career, becoming a part of its artistic fabric. His presence in the local scene was marked by his long-standing membership in the Wiener Secession, a connection that lasted from 1973 until 2000. He was a man who viewed the act of painting as a way of thinking, a method of processing the world around him.

After decades of work and many years spent exploring the nuances of form and figure, Jürgen Messensee passed away in Vienna, Austria, in 2024. He was 88 years old at the time of his death, leaving behind a body of work that remained rooted in the city where his artistic education began.

Artistic Style and Creative Technique

For Messensee, the act of painting was never a mere craft; he viewed it as a method of thinking. His work occupies a unique space between the movements of Informel and Tachisme, refusing to be pinned down by a single label. His canvases often present a dialogue between the recognizable and the abstract. He used figurative abbreviations, quick strokes, and specific signs that alternate with more naturalistic images. These signs often function like hieroglyphs, appearing as remnants of an explosion of a disintegrating signifier, suggesting something that exists just beyond the reach of the brush.

The human form, specifically the female body, remained a central theme throughout his life. He treated the feminine as a metaphor for reality, often using it as a symbol of beauty through fragments or complete figures. In his later years, his process evolved to include the use of jet prints. He would take these large-scale prints and overpaint them, a technique used to shift and manipulate how a viewer perceives the image on the surface.

Exhibitions and Professional Affiliations

Messensee’s presence in the art world was marked by a steady, expansive reach that spanned decades. He was a long-standing member of the Wiener Secession, belonging to the association from 1973 until 2000. This period of affiliation coincided with a time when his work began to find its footing in significant international spaces. In 1973, he participated in the 12th Biennale of São Paulo, a moment that helped establish his reputation beyond the borders of Austria.

His solo career gained significant momentum in the mid-1980s. He held his first solo exhibition at Galerie Georg Nothelfer in 1985, a milestone that preceded a series of important appearances in major institutions. By 1987, his work was being shown at the Kunsthalle Bremen, and he continued to exhibit widely, eventually participating in over 200 national and international exhibitions throughout his life.

Later in his career, his influence was recognized through dedicated spaces in major museums. In 2015, the Albertina in Vienna provided him with a dedicated room for the exhibition Abstraktion in Österreich. This recognition highlighted his enduring place within the landscape of Austrian art, moving from the experimental spaces of his early years to the established halls of the country's most important collections.

Notable Works and Collections

Messensee’s presence in major institutions reflects a career spent exploring the boundaries between the seen and the imagined. His work Magde, created about 1998, is held within the collection of the Belvedere Museum in Vienna. This piece represents a significant part of his visual language, where the human form is often distilled into something more essential through his unique method of thinking.

In 1993, his Infantinnen were featured in an exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, placing his explorations of the female figure alongside significant historical works. This period of his career highlighted his ability to use the body as a metaphor for reality, often through a dialogue between figurative elements and abstraction. His practice also extended to printmaking, as seen in his 1992 lithograph, O.T./ Untitled.