Untitled (Zeichen), c. 1960

Description

mixed media on canvas, bearing signature lower right, catalalogue raisonné No 44, estate marking verso, original frame

Petrik studied at the Art Academy in Vienna under Robin Christian Andersen and Josef Dubrowsky. The influence of his teachers can be seen in his early work, in which he painted naturalistically. From 1952 his work shifted to a more geometrical formal language, usually in oil or gouache.

In 1953 Petrik became a member of the renowned Vienna Secession. In the years that followed he took part in numerous group exhibitions alongside Wolfgang Hollegha, Fritz Wotruba, Arnulf Rainer, Josef Mikl, Maria Lassnig and Markus Prachensky, as well as some of the most famous Austrian artists of the period.

He was one of the artists who shaped the art movement of the avant-garde