Werner Würtinger
Werner Würtinger, Vienna, 9 July 2021
“Those who seek to flatter a space would do better to become decorators”
As a sculptor, Werner Würtinger is currently most interested in questions of distance—and in his roles as an assistant professor in the legendary master class of Bruno Gironcoli and as President of the Vienna Secession, he showed himself to have an unerring eye for instances of unmistakable artistic handwriting. Here, Würtinger—just prior to his 80th birthday—speaks about his studies under Fritz Wotruba, about the extent to which he primarily remained a “learner” even while active as a teacher and as president of the Secession, and why he still thinks of sculpture as “architecture” that “springs forth from the ground.”
“Those who seek to flatter a space would do better to become decorators”
As a sculptor, Werner Würtinger is currently most interested in questions of distance—and in his roles as an assistant professor in the legendary master class of Bruno Gironcoli and as President of the Vienna Secession, he showed himself to have an unerring eye for instances of unmistakable artistic handwriting. Here, Würtinger—just prior to his 80th birthday—speaks about his studies under Fritz Wotruba, about the extent to which he primarily remained a “learner” even while active as a teacher and as president of the Secession, and why he still thinks of sculpture as “architecture” that “springs forth from the ground.”