The present volume offers a comprehensive retrospective of all presently known three-dimensional works by Oswald Oberhuber. It does not make any claim of being complete, and also must remain an attempt: an “attempt” because several factors make it impossible to actually grasp all of the sculptural works. In the specific case of Oberhuber, there is also the additional problem of defining the works, not to mention the fact that an indeterminable number of works have been destroyed. The volume, with more than 1,000 objects, covers all creative periods from the artist’s beginnings to the present day. Such an overview is necessary to make fully clear the essence of Oberhuber’s work concept, which remains concealed behind fragmentary elements when viewing a single piece.

We have thus been able to prove, for the first time, that in a conscious, artistic act Oberhuber sawed apart several plasters from his early informal phase believed to have been lost. The individual pieces remained unrecognized for quite some time in what are, de facto, separate sculptures. Fragmentation without visible fragment: yet not simply a deliberate act of confusion! Instead, it is a hidden challenge to beholders, and also, fundamentally, to the public, and an essential intellectual aspect of the oeuvre. Oswald Oberhuber’s motto for his entire creation, “One arrives at art only through seeing,” can thus be understood as a universal appeal for keen attention and observation.