In 1994, Kunsthandel Hieke discovered the works of R.R. Ballabene and presented them to the public in an exhibition. Today, Ballabene is one of the best-known artists of Burgenland, reaching his very own levels of expertise in his representation of movement.
His landscapes and figurative scenes are imbued with special expressive power and dynamism. His creativity reached a climax in the 1950s. From the mid-1960s onwards, he increasingly turned towards abstract art.
Ballabene was the youngest son of ten siblings in a patrician family from Prague. He commenced his studies in Prague in 1909, devoting himself not only to journalism and acting but also to painting, his sole focus from the 1920s. He became famous as a painter of Prague motifs and striking floral still lifes. His career as an artist was interrupted by the onset of the Second World War in 1939, when Czechoslovakia was annexed as a protectorate. In 1941, all of his paintings were confiscated and from 1943 onwards, he was forbidden to work.
In 1945, he reached Vienna and quickly established himself as an artist. Various exhibitions followed: 1958 Österreichische Staatsdruckerei, Vienna,
1959 Österreichische Lesehalle, Zagreb
1960 Galerie Gurlitt, Munich
1960 National Arts Club, New York
1991 Landesgalerie Eisenstadt.
Works at:
Albertina Museum, Vienna
Belvedere Museum, Vienna
Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
