Adolf Frohner (1934–2007) is regarded as one of the most important Austrian artists of post-war modernism. He is known for his expressive paintings, sculptures, and drawings. In 2025, the Forum Frohner will revolve around the theme: Frohner Expressive!

Two exhibitions will shed light on Adolf Frohner’s artistic position in the context of the Neo-Expressionist trends of the 1980s and 1990s in Austria. In cooperation with the Kunsthalle Krems, which is dedicating a solo exhibition to the Neo-Expressionist artist Susan Rothenberg, visitors to the Kunstmeile Krems can fully immerse themselves in this style in 2025.

The spring exhibition at the Forum Frohner will place Adolf Frohner’s painterly position of the 1980s in dialog with the emerging generation of the Neue Wilde. This style developed almost simultaneously in Europe and the US. With sweeping brushstrokes, bold colors, and an unrestrained palette, artists reacted to the sparse style that prevailed in the 1970s, such as Minimalism or Conceptual Art. Narrative images, figurative motifs, and “wild painting” became important once again. Well-known Austrian greats of the Neue Wilde such as Siegfried Anzinger, Gunter Damisch, Maria Lassnig, Alois Mosbacher, and Hubert Scheibl are represented in the exhibition at the Forum Frohner with large-format works.

Adolf Frohner addressed this topic in the 1980s with his seminal work Wieder Malerei (Painting Again). It is a declaration of his commitment to painting. Frohner thus demonstrates his close affinity to the position of the Neue Wilde.

Curator: Elisabeth Voggeneder