Virtual Museum of Political Art

This museum was not made as a part of any official or supported project. Most of the displayed paintings are in our private property, the "Horvath-Collection". The aim of this exhibition is to provide useful and up-to-date information freely available on-line. Long-term aim is also to find a new home for the political pictures in a real "Museum of Political Art". 

Please click on the framed thumbnails to see the full images.

Totalitarian Art
Dictatorship - oppression - persecution - tyranny - injustice - inhumanity: All these cruelties were present within the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. Artists, who worked under these circumstances were forced to adapt to the state's ideology. Their pictures can provide useful information for anyone, who is willing to learn from the past and wants to make up his mind for the dangers of dictatorship. Destroying or suppressing totalitarian art therefore would destroy and suppress free discussion. (About the background see also "Das Gespräch - Über totalitäre Kunst" in German).

Socialist Realism
This style was an ideology enforced by the Soviet state as the official standard for art. It was defined 1934 at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers and was based on the principle that art should promote political and social ideals set by the state. The museum shows paintings of socialist artists, for example (to name a few): Brodsky, Bozhi, Ivanov, Karpov, Kupriynaov, Krylov, Shpolyanski, Parkhet, Vasilev and Vladimirski.

Nationalsocialist Realism
Art style of the so called "Third Reich". Note: It is not the intention of the museum to glorify the Nationalsocialist regime ! On the contrary, artworks of the Nationalsocialist era are presented to initiate a broad discussion about the relationship between dictatorship and art of this time and to provide historical information on-line.

Art of the Austrian "Ständestaat"
The Austrian "Ständestaat" under Dollfuß was also a kind of dictatorship. The art of this time therefore also shows great political influence. Some examples are shown.

New Constructivism - Politics
The paintings of this section show political events; the pictures tell historical facts in a critical way. You can see Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Mao, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brechnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Putin, Ceausescu, Milosevic, Karadzic, Walter Ulbricht, Erich Honecker and others, also Adolf Hitler, even Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Yong Il, George Bush, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton (and Monica Lewinsky), Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jaques Chirac.

New Constructivism - Society
Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Jim Morrison, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain are guests of this part of the museum. The paintings also comment on problems like drugs, Aids and pollution. A symbol for peace: John Lennon.

New Constructivism - Science, Medicine
Constructivistic portraits of scientists, often combined with realistic scenes, explaining the background of their work (e.g. Sigmund Freud, Roentgen, Billroth, Schweitzer, Koch and Albert Einstein). As the section includes portraits of the infamous SS-doctor Josef Mengele and of the Nobel prize winner Wagner-Jauregg (who wanted to be a member of the Nazi party) - it is also a political site.

New Constructivism - Philosophy
Philosophy and politics are closely related, influencing each other. You can see portraits of Socrates, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Machiavelli, Sir Karl Popper, Locke, Hobbes, Hume and Camus, but also of Marx and Sigmund Freud.

Werner Horvath - Greek Period
This section shows paintings from the so called "Greek period" of the artist, which followed his surrealistic phase. The period led to the development of the "New Constructivism". Hidden allusions to politics are included in the paintings.

Werner Horvath - Early Works
This section shows art-works of Werner Horvath from the 60ies and 70ies in the style of "Fantastic Realism", before his art-style turned to New Constructivism.

Recently finished: "Linz - European Cultural Capital 2009". Oil on canvas, 2 x 2 m.
                         Text in Deutsch: "Linz - Europäische Kulturhauptstadt 2009". Öl auf Leinwand, 2 x 2 m.

Congo and Tanzania
This section displays paintings from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly called Zaire) and Tanzania, dealing with problems of politics and society in these countries.