The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (German: Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus) is a group of artists founded in Vienna in 1946. The group's name was coined in the 1950s by Johann Muskik, and the first exhibition was in 1959 at the Vienna Belvedere. This Austrian movement has similarities to Surrealism in its use of religious and esoteric symbolism and also the choice of a naturalistic style, countering the prevalence of abstract art movements at the time.
Some older members of the group, including Rudolf Hausner, Kurt Regschek and Fritz Janschka, emigrated to the US in 1949, where Kurt Regschek helped organize the early exhibitions of the group in 1965. Hausner, Fuchs, Hutter, Brauer and Lehmden were referred to as "The Big Five" who subsequently held exhibitions internationally.
Books
1974: Die Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus (C. Bertelsmann) (Johann Muschik) ISBN3-570-06123-X(in German)
