Mathias Hietz

(*1923 in Reisenberg Lower Austria, lived and worked in Bad Vöslau, ✝ 1996 in Bad Vöslau, Lower Austria)
Mathias Hietz lived and worked in Bad Vöslau. From 1937-1940, he completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter, after which he was drafted into military service until 1945. From 1946 he studied first at the Salzburg School of Applied Arts and then at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna. At the instigation of Karl Prantl, Hietz initiated the first Lindabrunn Symposium in 1967. As a result, the symposium became a fixture in the Austrian cultural landscape and brought numerous sculptors from all over the world to Lindabrunn. Hietz was not only the organizational director of the symposium and worked on individual works on site, but also actively participated in the development of the joint projects of the symposia. Although Hietz gave up the artistic direction in 1991, he was a regular participant in the Lindabrunn Symposium until 1994. Hietz also participated in various international sculpture symposia in Canada, Suwako and Hagi (Japan), in Acolman (Mexico) and others, and organized the International Sculpture Symposium in Villány (Hungary). He worked as vice-president and exhibition director at the Vienna Künstlerhaus and was chairman of the Federal Conference of Austrian Fine Artists. His works were mainly exhibited in Lower Austria and Vienna, but also beyond Austria’s borders. In addition to several prizes, he was awarded the title of professor in 1971.