14/10/2026
Johann Feilacher received the Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst der Republik Österreich on October 13, one of Austria’s highest state honours, awarded in the name of the Federal President.
Feilacher joined Gugging in 1983 as Leo Navratil’s assistant. He took over in 1986 and spent four decades transforming what had been a psychiatric setting into one of the world’s most important centres for Art Brut. In 2000 he separated the artists’ community from the clinic entirely, giving them a home built around their practice. Together with Nina Katschnig, he opened museum gugging in 2006. He retired in 2022.
His relationship with the artists was never administrative. He worked alongside them. In the case of August Walla, he helped cover the entire room with Walla’s work, constructing a special frame so the ceiling too could become a surface. He is also a sculptor himself, known for large-scale wood works, which means this award recognises both a builder and a practising artist.
The works of the artists he championed are now held in the permanent collections of institutions including MoMA and the Albertina. galerie gugging congratulates Johann Feilacher on this honour. What he built made everything that followed possible.
https://shop.galeriegugging.com/blogs/news/johann-feilacher-receives-one-of-austria-s-highest-state-honours-the-ehrenkreuz-fur-wissenschaft-und-kunst-der-republik-osterreich
