Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen called Arnulf Rainer “an icon” who engaged with art history in a radical and intelligent way and found a new artistic expression. He was deeply rooted in the history of European painting and simultaneously renewed Austrian art.

Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) stated that Rainer ranked among the greats of art history with his uncompromising work and made the creative power of Austria visible far beyond its borders.

Vice Chancellor and Culture Minister Andreas Babler (SPÖ) described Rainer as an influential figure in Austrian art whose work inspired generations of artists and whose impact on art history will be felt long after his death.

Various officials and art figures, including state governors and museum directors, praised Rainer’s artistic legacy, emphasizing that he was a revolutionary and a renewer of post-war art, with the Arnulf Rainer Museum in Baden near Vienna preserving his extraordinary work.

They noted that Rainer was an influential teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, that his work represents a deeply human engagement with identity and memory, and that he was among the most prominent artists expanding the boundaries of art and expression.

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