Nitsch Foundation

Hermann Nitsch uses the familiar imagery of the Last Supper to create a physical, existential and cosmic worldview, where art becomes ritual and life is experienced as a continuous cycle of death and renewal.

Meet Florentina Holzinger
Coming soon:
PFINGSTSPIEL
May 23, 2026
From Vienna to Schloss Prinzendorf

Thanks to our partners:


VERBUND
TECTO
Dorotheum
Redtenbacher Nikolaus
Max Stiegl
Kunsttrans
Dominika Li
Thomas Richter
Kramer & Kramer

Exhibition Opening I Hermann Nitsch -The Last Supper

In his exploration of the Last Supper, Hermann Nitsch did not refer to the Gospel of John, which Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting follows. He was primarily interested in the Eucharistic cultic and ritual practices because of their sensual intensity and the hermetic density of their symbolic meaning.

Chalices, monstrances, wine and water jugs, hosts, folded white cloths, gold and silver bowls, and above all, the ritual vestments, stoles, and chasubles exerted a powerful influence on him.

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Between 1976 and 1979, Nitsch worked on the drawing “The Last Supper,” which he created on a single sheet of paper. In 1983, this work was first published as a silkscreen print. In 2021, this work was revived on cloths sprinkled with bright colors, foreshadowing the resurrection of “the defeated hero”.

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The exhibition opening will take place on Thursday, 12 March 2026 at 19:00 at the Nitsch Foundation in Vienna.

art artist austrianartist contemporaryart aktionismus wieneraktionismus viennaactionism actionpainting modernart performance exhibition gesamtkunstwerk omt artvienna