Turning Dreams into Reality

Tony Pemberton a Director and Producer of film recommended I contact Witcraft a script and production company in Vienna, He said that they produced a film of his and recommended them highly. Ursula Wolschlager in particular he gave stellar reviews as a producer. I went to there website and check them out, they seem like perfect partners for our documentary film, Restoring Paradise. see for yourselves at http://www.witcraft.at/en/wolschlager.html

He said that he thought they could not only help develop the script but with the production and the fundraising through a grant from the Austrian Government. Hundertwasser is a national icon and an industry to himself. I have examined all things Hundertwasser, his creative output is phenomenal and extensive. The economic activity derived from this dead artistic icon if calculated is considerable. Like Antonio Gaudi is to Barcelona, he is to Vienna, he is the #3 tourist attraction in the city.

We acquired this painting as a gift from people who did not know its value and would have destroyed it. We saved this lost national treasure of the Austrian peoples would it be so strange to think they might appreciate that considerable effort by one American family that their government might fund the documentary film.

The film well made and well distributed would educate people around the world to whom he remains yet unknown. It would serve many functions beyond increasing the value of our painting Paradise and all his other works. I think he is undervalued and misunderstood by many including thous in his own county. There would be strings attached to the grant of course, His archive in Vienna,, archiv-office@harel.at would supervise and have oversight and the production crew and staff would be Austrians. The money spent would then circulate in the Austrian local economy and the influx of new tourism would bring in extra foreign currency.

We have chosen the best person in the world for the actual conservation work. Ralf Wittig, atelier@ralfwittig.at is a skilled Austrian citizen who knew and worked with Hundertwasser for a decade and works now with his museum and Archive. He issued a five page report on the condition and imortance of this remarkable work. The hair on his arm stood up and he got goosebumps when he first saw this painting. That kind of emotional connection can not be taught at any university. That personal understanding and chemistry uniquely qualifies him and can nor be faked

I talked yesterday with an agent of Sotheby's in NYC who said that they might fund the restoration efforts if we agree to consign the work for auction through them. Harry Rand the Smithsonian Senior curator, and Harvard Art Historian who wrote the book on Hundertwasser told me that he thought we could get a grant for the restoration as well. I told him that we could not believe that someone in ignorance of its value gifted us this painting and we had a hard time believing that others who do not know or care about us would pay for the film and the restoration. He said that we do not understand that those in the art and cultural world especially the foundations live to save what is precious. They do not care about us only about the life of a painting and its future. It not only outlived its makes it will out live us all and the ripples of its effect on the world will continue beyond our lifetimes in ways that will be seen and unseen.

This project is moving slowly in the right directing growing green and gold like moss and mold. Hundertwasser spoke often of this slow unfolding that is not in our control but driven by and unseen force in a universe where our individual and collective thought and action matters.

Restoring Paradise the documentry film.

From the beginning I knew that I had two valuable properties, the painting and the extraordinary story that surrounds it's amazing journey, since its birth in May of 1950 in the old Hunting Lodge of the Contessa Castillion in the wooded outskirts of Paris.

I had the move documented from the old mansion on the Gold Coast of Long Island where we salvaged it. We edited a 2min.30 second video that can be seen in my second posting. I have interviewed four film makers and am planing to produce the film that documents the entertaining and dramatic journey of the painting and the artists that gave it birth.

I will give you details in upcoming posts. The real world and the dentist beckons and I have to go.

Restoring Paradise , further details

The painting which is 10 ft. tall by 16 ft. wide is the largest painting don on a contiguous surface that he completed in his life time. It is also the first in the modern style that has come to define his future body of work. In it you can find many motif's that would recur in the future work of his adult life, the trans-Atlantic steamers in the upper let side of the mural being one amongst these iconic images.

The concentric spiral that he adopted as a trademark and reoccurring motif is found in its earliest form in the pupil of the eye of god that is shaped as both the eye of Horus in the cult of Osiris, and the fish that was the Ancient Greek symbol of the Soul or Christos that was latter adopted by the Early Christians. The bars within the eye are reminders that the all seeing eye of god that watches us all, bars himself from action, because he gave us free will. We are free to enjoy or destroy the Paradise we inhabit.

The eye also has a small fish etched over the pupil in recognition of the Holographic nature of the Universe. This is a manifestation of Carl Jung's Archetypal God-Self and the Atman-Brahman duality Expressed in Hindu Sacred Litterateur, The Upanishads. We are all the little fish within a larger unifying and mirroring larger reality. Hundertwasser said that Bro's Paradise was locked in a treasure chest and that the key had been lost. I think if you look closely you can begin to decipher its hidden symbols and its secrets will begin to reveal themselves.

This painting listed in Harry Rands Book Hunderwasser as in the hunting Lodge of the Countessa Castillion that was demolished in1964, was thought by many to be destroyed. Miraculously it has survived and now is in mid-conservation and is beginning to reveal its beauty for the first time to Hundertwasser fans to whom it as been largely unavailable and lost in obscurity in America. It sate forlorn in an old castle like mansion on the Gold Coast of Long Iland , unknown and forgotten to the owners until its salvaging and rediscovery.

Progress Report

It is a long time since my last posting and progress report and I want to give a brief update. On Sept 18 of 2010 we received an offer of $700,000 for the painting in its mid-restoration state , in thirteen crated pieces in storage. We have declined the offer from Christian Baha of the Austrian Hedge fund and continue to pursue funding sources for the restoration and the documentary film. We need $120,000 and $120, for the film. Cristian Baha had a difficult year and only made $85 million personally on the $1.7 billion under his management.

A friend of mine who's cousin just built a house for Carlos Slim of Mexico has promise us to contact him on our behalf. He is the richest man in the world and is building a MOMA in Mexico City. He paid $153 Mil. for one Jackson Pollack. I wonder what he might be willing to pay for the worlds largest Hundertwasser painting, for loan or purchase.

We are seeking grants for this purpose and have contacted grant writer to assist in this effort.

We have also become aware of three company's that are licenced to sell an art print of this painting by his archive for $350. We are applying for permission to do the same, but use our own , better photographic images, unavailable through any other source. We will also try to get a licence to sell all things Hunderwasser as are sold on his museum store. If people will buy though our online site, we could use the proceeds to pursue the restoration of the painting and the documentary film.

We are also getting an independent appraisal from Victor Wiener, the ex-president of the national appraisers association. We intent to approach banks who will lend against the painting as collateral. I will attach a file of a 25 page article on the appraisal of large scale art.

I will keep you posted on our progress. I have attach some close up photos that were taken of the painting that have been photo retouched using photo-shop. They are all copyright protected and can not be used for any reason without consent from us, as is any and all information on this blog.

What is enough evidence to remove reasonable doubt ort

I just got of the phone after a long conversation with an interesting film maker who may join our team with his brother a journalist. I am going to visit with them both in the coming week. The whole story of Hundertwasser the artist a architect,painter and ecological philosopher and of this largest painting of his career, that has been saved twice from demolition is amazing.

I have difficulty believing it myself and I know many knowledgeable and learned people do also. I remember my first telephone conversation with the Harvard educated art historian Harry Rand who I called at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. I called to inform him that he had mad a mistake in his 1983 book on Hundertwasser, and I would like to correct him. The painting called Paradise is shown on page 20 with a photo of the young artist in front of the painting as he was creating it. The painting in the footnotes is listed as lost when the building was destroyed in 1964. He did not believe me, and called his Archive in Vienna for confirmation.

I told him HW's Paradise mural was lost to the art world in a practical sense but not destroyed, and we intend to restore Paradise and return the painting to the art world and a fitting public display. I and my family are not rich or connected in the art world and are slow moving to accomplish this task, but intend to do in a way that honors its makers , and extends Hundertwassers legacy.

Over year ago I contacted DPI , the UPI or Ruters of the Germanic Press , and they refused to tell a story they could not confirm. We had hoped they might simply contact his Archive in Vienna, archiv@harel.at and its director Andrea Furst or its president Joram Harel and that would might be considered proof enough. There is a five page report from a conservator Ralf Wittig detailing its condition and an estimate for its repair. He worked for a decade with the artist and works with his Archive and museum. His contact info is ateiler@ralfwittig.at

I understand that this may sound like a made up Madoff, NY story to many , but it is not. I was told to go to the Germanic bloggosphere directly and bypass the media gatekeepers, by starting this blog.

I have not been successful yet , will someone please help us get this story out and finally get this project the help and publicity it deserves.The Director of his museum suggested writing a book about the project and telling the story at his museum as a fund raiser. I am working on the book to be self published by Amazon in an Ipad format with color plates and video footage.

Anyone who helps us with this project will be compensated and if you help us make contacts to foundations and individuals who can help pay the cost of the restoration and the film we will be happy to pay a reasonable and professional commit ion. If you are a grant writer or can help in any way please contact us at restoringparadise@gmail.com , care of my mother Patrica Muth.

Harry Rand told me that we have been going about the in the wrong way , seeking capital in this difficult economic situation from private sources. He said that we could get the money to restore the painting and make the Documentary for free and never pay it back even when we realize the monetary value of this painting one day. I told him I had difficulty believing that. He said the art world does not care about my family personally but only about insuring the future of a valuable cultural and artistic artifact. I have yet to see the evidence of that but would like to believe it is true.

update on progress

We are making slow progress on putting together a digital Ipad book that tells the story of this painting and its extraordinary history. We would like to sell it as a fund raiser to pay for the paintings restoration by Ralf Wittig , the conservator who works with his museum. We will keep you posted on our progress. I am looking forward to spending time in Austria, and experiencing Hundertwassers art and architecture personally.

A LOST PARADISE IN RESTORATION

I did not have a chance to go to Austria, and to Vienna to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his Death on Feb 19th. I plan to go this summer when the weather is good and take a month at least to explore all things Hundertwasserish, in the land of his birth. This weekend I am going too the Art Armory Show in NYC, who knows what or whom I shall see.Perhaps I will meet people who can help me move this restoration project forward, someone with the knowledge, financial connections and appreciation to actualize what remains a dream in storage. We have not yet found the way to reach a base of support, but we are confident it exists and we will someday drill into that wellspring of understanding and desire. I know that millions know and love Hundertwasser and his work and millions yet who would love to know of him and his vision of a paradise restored that we could all live in and share in Justice. Today I wrote an email to Danelle Ganek the author of the book LULU MEETS GOD AND DOUBTS HIM. It was a great read and I recommend it highly' especially to anyone who wants to understand the NYC art scene. I am learning more all the time in the course of my adventure to restore Hundertwassers great mural Paradise. I will keep you posted, I trust I will one day have some readers, until then best wishes from NYC and the X, Why Z Arts collective.

I am including a 2Minuit 30 second video attachment of our salvage effort at the beginnings, as well as a 1983 photo of Hundertwasser and Mr Harel visiting the painting . Hundertwasser was in NY city to receive an award for his stamp designs from the United Nations. The vidio was made for us by Fred Espisito a DP, he has taken other footage, which will be forthcoming in short installments. The photo was sent to us by Andrea Furst the Director of his Archive. Their email address is archiv@harel.at