Hundertwasser's comment on the work

Facchetti gave me a "contract" without ever paying me anything; instead I was allowed to tell everybody I had a contract with Facchetti. He promised me I would have an exhibition. Every day I rode my bicycle to him to remind him of it. His words were like a refrain, and I can still hear him saying, "Ne vous inquiétez pas, revenez demain" (Don't worry, come back tomorrow). Finally it did happen, and I had an exhibition folder with colour reproductions! Although I had not heeded Facchetti's advice, "Soyez gentil avec Monsieur Alvard" (Be nice to Monsieur Alvard), he wrote a wonderful text for the catalogue. The picture was the first spiral I had painted in oil. The inspiration for it was an irregularly rotating spiral in a documentary film by Fulchignoni. The spiral was filmed at Hôpital St. Anne in Paris, and I saw the film at the University of Vienna. This spiral, I think it was red and blue, gave the crucial impetus to my creativity. The realisation that the irregular spiral is the main symbol of life and death made me dizzy. (from: Hundertwasser 1928-2000, Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. 2, Taschen, Cologne, 2002, pp. 250-251)

169
LE SANG QUI COULE AUTOUR ET J'AI UNE BICYCLETTE
DAS BLUT DAS IM KREIS FLIESST UND ICH HABE EIN FAHRRAD
BLOOD FLOWING IN A CIRCLE AND I HAVE A BICYCLE
HO UNA BICICLETTA

St. Maurice/Seine, 1953
In Brô's garden house in Saint Maurice/Seine, August, 1953, in the company of Martha
510 mm x 545 mm
Oil on wood fibreboard with wood relief, primed with chalk, zinc white and fish glue
Buy related item
  • Studio Paul Facchetti, Paris, 1954
  • *
  • Travelling exhibition 1964/65:
  • Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, 1964
  • Kunsthalle Bern, 1964
  • Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, 1964
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1964
  • Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 1965
  • Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1965
  • *
  • Travelling exhibition 1968/69:
  • University Art Museum, Berkeley, 1968
  • Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1968/69
  • The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1969
  • The Arts Club of Chicago, 1969
  • The Galerie St. Etienne, New York, 1969
  • The Phillips Collection, Washington DC, 1969
  • 27th Venice Biennial, 1954
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1956
  • Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 1957
  • Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, 1963
  • Grand Palais, Paris, 1974
  • Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 2015
  • Nationalgalerie, Prag, 2015
  • W. Schmied, Hundertwasser, Salzburg, 1974, pl. 33 (c), p. 312
  • H. Rand, Hundertwasser - Der Maler, Munich, 1986, pl. 37 (c), p. 165
  • H. Rand, Hundertwasser, Cologne, 1991, p. 50 (c)
  • Contemporary Great Masters: Hundertwasser, Tokyo 1993, pl. 11 (c), p. 113
  • P. Restany, Die Macht der Kunst, Hundertwasser - Der Maler-König mit den fünf Häuten, Cologne, 1998, p. 11 (c)
  • W. Schmied, Hundertwasser 1928-2000, Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne, 2000, Vol. I, pp. 69 (c), 173
  • A. C. Fürst, Hundertwasser 1928-2000, Catalogue Raisonné, Cologne, 2002, Vol. II, pp. 250/251 (and c)
  • F. Hundertwasser / P. Restany, Hundertwasser, New York, 2008, p. 58 (c)
  • G. Illetschko, Planet Hundertwasser, Munich, 2012, p. 27 (c)
  • XXVII. Biennale di Venezia, n. p., 1954, cat. 20
  • Leaflet: Studio Paul Facchetti, Paris, 1954 (b)
  • Kunst uit Oosterijk, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1956, no. 115 (b)
  • Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, 1963, p. 231 (c)
  • Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, 1964, pp. 121, 147 (c)
  • Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 1964, cat. 22
  • Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1965, cat. 30
  • University Art Museum, Berkeley, 1968, p. 55 (c), cat. 21
  • HW-Die Kunst des grünen Weges, KunstHausWien, Vienna, 2011, pp. 64 (c), 213
  • Gegen den Strich. Werke 1949-1970, Kunsthalle Bremen, 2012/13, p. 41 (c)
  • Künstler und Propheten. Eine geheime Geschichte der Moderne 1872 - 1972, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 2015, p. 314 (c)
  • V. Gamper / H.-P. Wipplinger (ed.), Egon Schiele, Expression und Lyrik, Vienna, 2018, p. 123 (c)
  • Arti Visive, no. 8/9, May 1954, Rome (b)
  • Bijutsu Techo, no. 10, Oct. 1954, Tokyo (b)
  • neue generation, no. 3, May 1957, Vienna, p. 20 (b)
  • Art International, Dec. 1964, Lugano, p. 37 (b)
  • Weser Kurier, March 27, 1964 (b)
  • Haagsche Courant, November 14, 1964 (b)
  • Postcard, Paris, 1954 (b)
  • Reproduction on fabric by Hatema, Holland, 1970 (690 x 710 mm)
  • Art Print, Verkerke, Holland, 1973 (stopped)
  • Reproduction on silk (scarf) by Heberlein, Switzerland, and Cicero, Germany, 1975 (77,5 x 77,5 cm)
  • Hundertwasser 2004 Calendar, Taschen, Cologne (and reprints)
  • Hundertwasser 2012 Calendar, Taschen, Cologne (and reprints)
  • showcase presentation, Westenholzer Kunst- und Themenweg, Delbrück, 2015 (c)
  • Hundertwasser 2015 Calendar, Taschen, Cologne (calendar cover and box cover, detail)
  • Calendar, Hundertwasser Art 2018, Wörner Verlag, Rutesheim
  • Calendar, Hundertwasser Art 2019, Wörner Verlag, Rutesheim (square size)

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THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS IN A CIRCLE AND I HAVE A BICYCLE