Hermann Nitsch - Reliktinstallation 6-Tage-Spiel: Schüttbild und Kreuztragbahre
Hermann Nitsch
Reliktinstallation 6-Tage-Spiel: Schüttbild und Kreuztragbahre
1998
2-part work: acrylic and blood on canvas and blood on cotton fabric and wood. 200 x 300 cm and 248 x 200 x 15 cm. - Traces of studio and minor traces of age.
Hermann Nitsch is regarded as a central figure of Viennese Actionism, a radical movement of the 1960s that turned away from traditional art and instead relied on intense, often shocking live performances to address social taboos and the repressed tensions of a postwar society. As an engaged initiator of these performances, Nitsch grouped them under the name Orgien-Mysterien-Theater. In these large-scale, ritualistically staged 'plays', he combined performance, painting, music, and theater into a dense web of religious and mythological symbolism. In doing so, he drew heavily on Christian, particularly Catholic, rituals, and reinterpreted elements such as the Mass, sacrifice, and crucifixion. By incorporating blood, human bodies, and ritualised actions, he transformed the symbolic meaning of these rituals into an immediate, physically tangible intensity.
The work 'Reliktinstallation 6-Tage-Spiel' was created as part of such a performance, the '6-Tage-Spiel' at Prinzendorf Castle in the summer of 1998. It combines two elements characteristic of Nitsch: the 'spilled painting' and the cross-bearing stretcher. Originally planned as separate works, Nitsch ultimately decided to merge them into a single unit.
The 'spilled painting', a prime example of Actionist painting, is created by pouring paint—in this case, blood and acrylic—onto the canvas, in an act of spontaneous, physical expression. The cross-shaped stretcher, in turn, draws directly on religious imagery and conveys a powerful, almost sacred presence.
The fusion of these elements creates more than a visual composition: Nitsch leaves behind a 'remnant' of the performance, a trace of the original event. The work functions simultaneously as an art object and a relic, preserving the intensity, symbolic power, and ritualised energy of the original and making them sensually tangible for the viewer.
Certificate
With 2 accompanying signed certificates by Atelier Hermann Nitsch, Prinzendorf, dated 20.11.2019.
Provenance
Private collection, Belgium
Exhibitions
Kortijk 2025/2026 (Abby Kortrijk), Faith No More, Rituals for Uncertain Times, Hermann Nitsch, Marina Abramović, Francis Alÿs, Pieter Bruegel, Lucas Cranach, Otto Dix, Marlene Dumas a.o. (exhibition view on the website of the Hermann Nitsch Foundation)
Turnhout 2014 (De Warande), Stille Kracht(exhibition view on the website of Cultuurhuis de Warande)
Ghent 1998 (Galerie Fortlaan 17), Hermann Nitsch, Das Orgien Mysterien Theater (handwritten note verso)
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Hermann Nitsch
Reliktinstallation 6-Tage-Spiel: Schüttbild und Kreuztragbahre
1998
2-part work: acrylic and blood on canvas and blood on cotton fabric and wood. 200 x 300 cm and 248 x 200 x 15 cm. - Traces of studio and minor traces of age.
Hermann Nitsch is regarded as a central figure of Viennese Actionism, a radical movement of the 1960s that turned away from traditional art and instead relied on intense, often shocking live performances to address social taboos and the repressed tensions of a postwar society. As an engaged initiator of these performances, Nitsch grouped them under the name Orgien-Mysterien-Theater. In these large-scale, ritualistically staged 'plays', he combined performance, painting, music, and theater into a dense web of religious and mythological symbolism. In doing so, he drew heavily on Christian, particularly Catholic, rituals, and reinterpreted elements such as the Mass, sacrifice, and crucifixion. By incorporating blood, human bodies, and ritualised actions, he transformed the symbolic meaning of these rituals into an immediate, physically tangible intensity.
The work 'Reliktinstallation 6-Tage-Spiel' was created as part of such a performance, the '6-Tage-Spiel' at Prinzendorf Castle in the summer of 1998. It combines two elements characteristic of Nitsch: the 'spilled painting' and the cross-bearing stretcher. Originally planned as separate works, Nitsch ultimately decided to merge them into a single unit.
The 'spilled painting', a prime example of Actionist painting, is created by pouring paint—in this case, blood and acrylic—onto the canvas, in an act of spontaneous, physical expression. The cross-shaped stretcher, in turn, draws directly on religious imagery and conveys a powerful, almost sacred presence.
The fusion of these elements creates more than a visual composition: Nitsch leaves behind a 'remnant' of the performance, a trace of the original event. The work functions simultaneously as an art object and a relic, preserving the intensity, symbolic power, and ritualised energy of the original and making them sensually tangible for the viewer.
Certificate
With 2 accompanying signed certificates by Atelier Hermann Nitsch, Prinzendorf, dated 20.11.2019.
Provenance
Private collection, Belgium
Exhibitions
Kortijk 2025/2026 (Abby Kortrijk), Faith No More, Rituals for Uncertain Times, Hermann Nitsch, Marina Abramović, Francis Alÿs, Pieter Bruegel, Lucas Cranach, Otto Dix, Marlene Dumas a.o. (exhibition view on the website of the Hermann Nitsch Foundation)
Turnhout 2014 (De Warande), Stille Kracht(exhibition view on the website of Cultuurhuis de Warande)
Ghent 1998 (Galerie Fortlaan 17), Hermann Nitsch, Das Orgien Mysterien Theater (handwritten note verso)
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Time, Location
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