
Relic of the 50th Action
A visceral and ritualistic work by Austrian actionist Hermann Nitsch, this relic serves as a physical remnant and testament to one of his notorious performance actions, in which blood, paint, and organic matter were central elements. Rooted in Nitsch's Orgien Mysterien Theater, the piece embodies his exploration of primal catharsis, sacrifice, and sensory excess. As a relic, it carries the charged energy of the live event, transforming raw material into a sacred, quasi-religious artifact.
- Location
- Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT
- Spotted At
- Auction House · PhillipsView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
Contemporary Art Day Sale
October 17, 2013
More by Hermann Nitsch
Artists in conversation
Otto Muehl
Austrian · b. 1925
As a fellow Vienna Actionist, Muehl created performance based works involving bodily fluids, organic matter, and ritualistic excess that directly parallel the visceral cathartic energy preserved in this relic. His material actions similarly transformed raw biological substances into charged avant garde artifacts.
Günter Brus
Austrian · b. 1938
Brus was a core member of Vienna Actionism whose body art performances used blood and bodily transgression as ceremonial and provocative gestures, sharing the same ritualistic intensity and physical rawness embedded in this relic from Nitsch's Orgien Mysterien Theater.
Rudolf Schwarzkogler
Austrian · b. 1940
Schwarzkogler created ritualistic performance works centered on bodily sacrifice, wound imagery, and quasi religious ceremonial staging that closely mirror the sacred reliquary quality and dark visceral atmosphere embodied in this physical remnant of Nitsch's action.
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