thumb|ernst fuchs ernst fuchs (born february 13, 1930) is an austrian painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, composer, poet, singer and one of the founders of the vienna school of fantastic realism. in 1972 he acquired the derelict otto wagner villa in hÃ¼tteldorf, which he restored and transformed. the villa was inaugurated as the ernst fuchs museum in 1988. ==life and work== fuchs studied sculpture with emmy steinbock (1943), attended the st. anna painting school where he studied under professor frÃ¶hlich (1944), and entered the academy of fine arts in vienna (1945) where he began his studies under professor robin c. anderson, later moving to the class of albert paris von gÃ¼tersloh. at the academy he met arik brauer, rudolf hausner, fritz janschka, wolfgang hutter, and anton lehmden, together with whom he later founded what has become known as the vienna school of fantastic realism. he was also a founding member of the art-club (1946), as well as the hundsgruppe, set up in opposition to it in 1951, together with friedensreich hundertwasser and arnulf rainer. ==career== fuch's work of this period was influenced by the art of gustav klimt and egon schiele and then by max pechstein, heinrich campendonck, edvard munch, henry moore and pablo picasso. during this time, seeking to achieve the vivid lighting effects achieved by such old masters as albrecht altdorfer, albrecht dÃ¼rer, matthias grÃ¼newald and martin schongauer, he revived and adopted the mischtechnik (mixed technique) of painting. in the mischtechnik, egg tempera is used to build up volume, and is then glazed with oil paints mixed with resin, producing a jewel-like effect. between 1950 and 1961, fuchs lived mostly in paris, and made a number of journeys to the united states and israel. his favourite reading material at the time was the sermons of meister eckhart. he also studied the symbolism of the alchemists and read jung's alchemy and psychology. his favourite examples at the time were the mannerists, especially jacques callot, and he was also very much influenced by jan van eyck and jean fouquet. in 1958 he founded the galerie fuchs-fischoff in vienna to promote and support the younger painters of the fantastic realism school. together with friedensreich hundertwasser and arnulf rainer, he founded the pintorarium. in 1956 he converted to roman catholicism (his mother had him baptized during the war in order to save him from being sent to a concentration camp). in 1957 he entered the dormition abbey on mount zion where he began work on his monumental last supper and devoted himself to producing small-sized 
1930_births 20th-century_Austrian_painters 21st-century_Austrian_painters Academy_of_Fine_Arts_Vienna_alumni Artists_from_Vienna Austrian_Jews Austrian_artists Converts_to_Roman_Catholicism_from_Judaism Fantastic_art Fantastic_realism Living_people Recipients_of_the_Austrian_Cross_of_Honour_for_Science_and_Art,_1st_class