Senatus Consultum XXXIV, 2005

Acrylic painting on canvas

Mass: 170 x 150 x 4 cm

In his eulogy for Markus Prachensky in July 2011, the Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer described the significance of his work: "His imperturbability and his receptiveness to new things made a major contribution to the Austrian art scene finding its way back into the European and international art scene after the distortions of the Nazi dictatorship. If one is looking for an artistic expression in which the striving towards a cosmopolitan, lively and self-confident understanding of the present is fully expressed, one will find it in Markus Prachensky's clear, expansive paintings and strong colours."

Markus Prachensky was born in Innsbruck and later studied architecture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. There he formed a circle of friends around Hollegha, Mikl, Rainer, Herbert Boeckl, Fritz Wotruba, Otto Mauer and Friedrich Heer. In 1955 Prachensky exhibited for the first time at the Galerie St. Stephan, which had opened shortly before and was directed by Otto Mauer. This was followed by the first major exhibition at the Vienna Secession, of which Prachensky became a member. In the following decades Prachensky travelled, lived and worked in Paris, Berlin, Stuttgart, New York and often in Sicily. In 1983 he became professor of the Master School of Painting at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. The Ulysses Gallery in Vienna accompanied his work for more than 40 years, and his works are prominently represented in many collections and museums, such as the Albertina.