180 - Robert Hammerstiel, “Conversation Outdoors” and “Waiting in the Evening”, 2 hand-signed colour woodcuts from 1991

Robert Hammerstiel, “Conversation Outdoors” and “Waiting in the Evening”, 2 hand-signed colour woodcuts from 1991 Robert Hammerstiel, 1933 Vršac - 2020 Neunkirchen, Austrian painter, graphic artist and woodcut artist, shown here: “Conversation Outdoors” and “Waiting in the Evening”, 2 colour woodcuts, each 33 x 25 cm, signed, numbered 50/150, without frame About the artist: Hammerstiel began working as a self-taught painter at an early age. In addition to depicting motifs from his surroundings, Hammerstiel - who saw himself as a ‘survivor of many dead’ - began to come to terms with his traumatic childhood experiences towards the end of the 1960s. At an exhibition entitled ‘Talents Awakened - Talents Discovered’ in 1958, Hammerstiel won a sponsorship award from the Austrian Trade Union Federation. Between 1959 and 1961, he studied in Vienna under Gerda Matejka-Felden as part of several art seminars, and also in her studio. From 1963 to 1966, he studied under Professor Robert Schmidt in further art seminars organised by the Trade Union Federation. Schmidt guided Hammerstiel’s working method towards woodcut. Hammerstiel’s other teachers included Gerhard Swoboda and August Swoboda. He held numerous exhibitions.