About Friedrich ZETTL

Friedrich, born in 1954, began painting as an autodidact. His interest had been sparked by an exhibition of the Fantastic Realists. Firstly he experimented with watercolor and pastel chalk, subsequently with woodcuts and linocuts. Very soon, however, he devoted himself to oil painting, which he learned by studying old masters. At this time he made his own painting grounds and even mixed his own paints.

After a few paintings in a surrealistic and then impressionistic style, a longer period of expressionism followed. Above all, it was Monet, Van Gogh, and later Oskar Kokoschka who nurtured his love of painting and shaped his time in those years.

As a co-founder of Fettfleck, a magazine for literature and art, literature took on particular importance alongside painting. At this time he also co-founded the artists’ association Bonamente. Besides a studio and a gallery, a rehearsal room was also made available there for bands. Among other musicians, Falco started his solo career in these rooms.

After attending night school, Friedrich began his university studies in Vienna in 1976 with sinology, ethnology, and art history. In 1978 he received a scholarship for China and was the first European to study at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, CAFA, in Beijing. Another grant enabled him to stay at the academy again in 1982. In addition to painting, he also devoted himself to research and completed his doctorate in 1985.

During these years he exhibited many times in Europe, mainly in Austria, Belgium, and Germany, but also twice in Beijing.

Long years followed in which Friedrich worked in business. He founded a management company with a partner and was a representative for Western companies in China. He was chairman of the supervisory board of Austrian Consult AG and subsequently also of Profinet AG, a major online provider at the time.

Hence Friedrich collected art and antiques over the years he subsequently devoted himself to maintaining and marketing his collection.
In 2020 he began to devote himself to painting again. Since then he has completed a large number of works, which are also presented in detail on these pages, both in the portfolio section and in blog posts.

Besides Daoism and Zen Buddhism have always been of particular interest and this is increasingly reflected in his work.

Finally, some of the artwork now is listed at FriedrichZettl.com and Saatchi gallery