VIENNA — Otto Muehl, one of Austria’s best-known and most provocative and controversial artists, who was jailed for pedophilia in 1991, has died aged 87, it was confirmed Monday.
Muehl, who had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease and heart problems, “passed away peacefully among friends in Portugal” on Sunday, the head of the Muehl Archive, Daniele Roussel, told the Austria Press Agency.
Muehl burst onto the scene in the 1960s as a co-founder of the Viennese Actionism movement with blood-splattered garbage sculptures and avant-garde body paintings.
Later works included paintings of bestiality, Hitler with a penis for a nose and public figures including Mother Theresa depicted performing sexual acts, an exhibition which was banned in Vienna in 1998.
A sect-like commune he created in Austria in 1972 where monogamy was banned ended in chaos in 1991 when Muehl was jailed for seven years for sex with minors, rape and drug offenses. He moved to Portugal after being released.