Introduction:

It was a major political event that prevented my first attempt to visit Haus Wittgenstein from succeeding. After being 'detained and redirected' on a trip through Bulgaria, some time later it was more than ironical to find that 'The Hau'’ was owned by the Bulgarian state as a feature of it's diplomatic presence in Vienna. The building and its distinctive features had long interested me and it had made its presence felt in my memory as kind of talisman of abstract form.

Introduction:

To mount an exhibition of his abstract paintings in the house which the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein built for his sister Margarethe in Vienna, in 1926-27, fulfilled for the Scottish artist Alan Johnston an aspiration of many years. For most of the month of April, 1994, Johnston's exhibition occupied the entire ground floor of the building (now a Bulgarian legation), which had always been intended for artistic, musical and generally cultural society. Johnston's exhibition did not overly exploit the setting by simply subtending it to his own installational' purpose. In fact, while his paintings, as austere as the building in style, held there own self-sufficiently, like distinct propositions, by virtue of their sympathetic display in it’s principal rooms the remarkable building itself was also coaxed into view. So Johnston exhibited not only, so to speak, as soloist, but also accompanist to this special building about which many of us modernists, including this artist, have long held curious.

Introduction:

Underpinning Alan Johnston’s involvement with the Wittgenstein House is his understanding of Scottish intellectual culture. His grasp of the significance of the Enlightenment and after for Scotland would put many contemporary philosophers to shame, but it provides Johnston with an intriguing and relevant set of starting points for a visual exploration of this place.