Jos Pirkner's monumental work

On Friday, October 19th 2018 while visiting Anni Fuchs at the Ernst Fuchs Museum I met the most fascinating artist, ​Jos Pirkner, whom Anni introduced me to. His monumental work just left me speechless!

please note: some text and links are in German.

​JOS PIRKNER

​Jos Pirkner was born on 2 December 1927 in Sillian, East Tyrol. He attended the School of Applied Arts in Klagenfurt, graduated from the Master School of Applied Arts in Graz. He discovered his love for metalwork as a private student of Rudolf Reinhart in Salzburg.

Image credit: https://www.osttirol-heute.at

​Über einen Zeitraum von drei Jahren entstand diese Kurzdoku über den Osttiroler Bildhauer Jos Pirkner, der als 86-Jähriger die größte Bronceskulptur Europas vollendete, eine wuchtige Figurengruppe aus 14 dahin stürmenden Bullen, die der Künstler mit einer "architektonischen Skulptur" umhüllte. Pirkner entwarf den Firmensitz von Red Bull in Fuschl als Vulkan, aus dem seine Bullen wie Lava herausbrechen und schuf so ein monumentales Gesamtkunstwerk. Kameramann Peter Werlberger und Redakteur Gerhard Pirkner porträtieren den Künstler und sein Meisterwerk.

​Website: JOS PIRKNER

Articles in German: Der Letzte Bulle (the last bull)

Image credit: https://assets.dolomitenstadt.at

​Red Bull-Zentrale mit Jos Pirkners Skulptur eröffnet
(Red Bull-Central with Jos Pirkners Skulptur opened)

Image credit: https://www.osttirol-heute.at

​Fulminante Plastiken sind das Markenzeichen von Jos Pirkner. In jahrelanger Arbeit hat er die Red Bull-Zentrale mit Europas größter Bronzeskulptur geplant und geschaffen.

Jos Pirkner, der charismatische Künstler aus der Osttiroler Gemeinde Tristach, übt als Persönlichkeit und als Kunstschaffender auf viele Menschen eine große Faszination aus. Dass auch der international erfolgreiche Unternehmer und Red-Bull-Chef Dietrich Mateschitz eine besondere Beziehung zu dem unermüdlichen Arbeitenden aus dem Bezirk Lienz pflegt, fand auch darin seinen Ausdruck, dass Mateschitz Jos Pirkner vor zwölf Jahren mit der Planung, Konzeption und Gestaltung seiner neuen Firmenzentrale im Salzburger Fuschl beauftragte.

​Fulminant sculptures are the trademark of Jos Pirkner. After years of work, he designed and created the Red Bull headquarters with Europe's largest bronze sculpture.

Jos Pirkner, the charismatic artist from the East Tyrolean community of Tristach, has a great fascination for many people as a personality and as an artist. The fact that the internationally successful entrepreneur and Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz maintains a special relationship with the tireless worker from the Lienz district was also expressed in the fact that Mateschitz commissioned Jos Pirkner for the planning, conception and design of his new headquarters twelve years ago in Salzburg Fuschl.

there is much more info in the German language Osttirol Heute 
I only translated the first couple of paragraphs

Excerpt from his Biography, translated from German:

​The young artist followed an offer from the Brom brothers in 1951 and began working as an independent gold and silver sculptor for this world-famous studio in the Netherlands. Jos Pirkner was accepted by the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam and attended as a guest auditor the Free Academy in Utrecht. This city was his second home for the next 25 years. Pirkner opened his own studio and married in 1966 Joke Baegen. Immediately after the birth of his son Gidi, he returned to East Tyrol in 1978. Prof. Jos Pirkner lives with his family in Tristach near Lienz. The work of Jos Pirkner unites imagination and energy. And another, rare quality of a sculptor: the sense of human sensitivity. In the midst of the destruction and poverty of the post-war years, my parents have financed me with an artistic education. Where bread is scarce, art has no value. Nevertheless, my parents advised me to go my own way, as did the Dutch painter Charles Eyk years later, whom I met in Amsterdam. These people have not shaped my work, but my personality as an artist. I owe to them the self-confidence, undeterred by commercial and intellectual fashions, simply to make my art.

Image credit: https://www.osttirol-heute.at

I feel privileged to have met this great artist!

Order of the Pope for Jos Pirkner

​Jos Pirkner ist Professor, Ehrenringträger der Stadt Lienz und hat auch sonst einiges an Ehrungen erlebt. Doch ein Orden, den der Papst verleiht, übergeben durch den Salzburger Erzbischof – das war selbst für einen vielfach Ausgezeichneten ein besonderer Moment.

More information found here (in German):
XXL KUNSTMAGAZIN - JOS PIRKNER

Image credit: https://www.stayinart.com

images and quotes from articles by:
XXL – KUNSTMAGAZIN - OSTTIROL HEUTE - DOLOMITENSTADT ONLINE MAGAZINE
and the Biography from the official website of JOS PIRKNER
English translations by me.
This was also published on my Blogger (with less text).

https://www.dolomitenstadt.at/story/der-letzte-bulle/