Austrian painter Wolfgang Hutter has died at the age of 85, Der Standard reported yesterday. Hutter died on September 26, but his passing only recently emerged as he didn’t wish for his death to be announced publicly.

Hutter attended the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts from 1945–1950 where he studied under his father, Albert Paris Gütersloh.

After completing his studies he became a founding member of a group of artists who met at the Vienna Art Club, a collective which would later become known as the Viennese School of Fantastic Realists. The group also included his fellow students Ernst Fuchs and Rudolf Hausner, among others.

By the late 1950s the Fantastic Realists enjoyed a string of successful exhibitions. Hutter’s theatrical canvasses explore themes of the fantastic and magic, featuring playful takes on subjects such as gardens and dolls. The paintings were executed with Old Master-like accuracy and attention to detail, as if to give his magical subject matter credibility.

Although he enjoyed considerable success in his early career his popularity waned as time went on. However his works are still featured in several public collections including Vienna’s Belvedere.

Wolfgang Hutter was married four times and is survived by his wife Edith and four children.