Austrian news agency reports death of famed Austrian artist at 81

Austrian news agency: Famed Austrian artist dead

VIENNA — The Austria Press Agency is reporting that famed Austrian artist Alfred Hrdlicka is dead. Hrdlicka was 81.

His sculptures, drawings and paintings are known as much for their artistic subtlety as their controversial themes. His religious works, in particular, drew protest from believers who considered them blasphemous.

Among his better-known works are his cast iron sculpture of a prostrate figure covered by barbed wire in Vienna. The starkly disturbing “Memorial Against War and Fascism” has been occasionally defaced since its 1991 unveiling.

APA cites Ernst Hilger, who runs the gallery where many of Hrdlicka work’s have been shown, as announcing Hrdlicka’s death Saturday in the daily Die Presse. Phone calls to Hilger were not returned.