Ernst Fuchs (*13 February 1930 in Vienna, † 9 November 2015 in Vienna)

His ancestors on his father's side were of Jewish origin. Fuchs was baptized Roman Catholic in 1942 after anti-Semitic hostility. From around 1942, Fuchs received his first instruction in drawing and painting from the painter and restorer Alois Schiemann, the brother of his godmother. Until he was fifteen, he received lessons in sculpture and painting from Emmy Steinböck and Fritz Fröhlich at the St. Anna painting school in Vienna. As a fifteen-year-old "child prodigy", he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he studied from 1946 to 1950, first under Robin Andersen, then under Albert Gütersloh. His first solo exhibition took place in Paris in 1949, where he moved in 1950. This was followed by trips to America, Italy, Spain and England until 1956. In 1957 he spent a long time in the Dormition Monastery on Mount Zion (Israel) and worked on icon painting. In 1962 he returned to Vienna, where he was appointed professor. Along with Wolfgang Hutter, Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner and Anton Lehmden, he is one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. The painter has lived and worked in Monaco since 1988.

His initially surrealist, later mannerist works often feature religious or mythological symbolism. According to his book “Architectura Caelestis”, many of his motifs are based on visionary experience.

Fuchs maintained friendships with Salvador Dalí, Arno Breker, Mati Klarwein, Leonor Fini, Eva Nagy and many other artists. In 1975 Fuchs was the youngest member of the artist friendship that Salvador Dalí proclaimed: “We are the Golden Triangle of art: Breker-Dalí-Fuchs. You can turn us however you want, we are always on top.”