In 1972, artist Ernst Fuchs (1930-2015) acquired a former Otto Wagner Villa in Wien Hütteldorf, the 14th district of Vienna. In 1888, the renowned Jugendstil architect Otto Wagner designed and built a summer house for himself and his family located in Hütteldorf on the border of the historical “Wiener Wald.” The star architect moved in as early as 1895 and stayed until his children had moved out and the house became too big for him.
After acquiring the property, Ernst Fuchs transformed the house into his private studio. He infused the magnificence of Otto Wagner’s architectural décor with his self-designed interiors consisting of tapestries, furniture, sculptures, chandeliers, and paintings. While the house was still in progress, Fuchs continued to be prolific. He traveled across Europe to work on multiple projects simultaneously; monumental oil paintings in Vienna set designs for the Hamburg and Munich opera houses, sculptures produced in Italy, and much more, even during his travels.
In 1988, the centenary of the Otto Wagner-Villa, the house was reborn as the “Ernst Fuchs Museum”. This was celebrated with a large retrospective of the artist, with works dating back as early as 1945. Around that time, Ernst Fuchs moved to the South of France and started working on a series of very large paintings like “Dionysos,” as well as designs for various architectural projects. The fountain house “Nymphaeum Omega“ would become his exemplary work of architecture.
Ernst Fuchs Museum https://ernstfuchsmuseum.at
