B.1929 - In line with his parent's wishes, Rainer studied structural engineering at the State Industrial School in Villach from 1947-49. He left both the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna within just a few days after artistic disagreements. From 1954 on the artist turns to overpainting which makes him popular. In the middle of the sixties it comes to a hallucinative way of work with falling back into his own surrealistic-influenced beginnings because of experiments with LSD and Psylocibin as well as alcohol. In 1966 he receives the Österreichischen Staatspreis für Graphik. In 1968 he deals with face-pulling photos and the postures of mentally ill persons. In 1972 he participates in the documenta 5 in Kassel, two years later he works together with Dieter Roth. In 1978 he receives the Großen Österreichischen Staatspreis für Malerei, three years later the Max-Beckmann-Preis of Frankfurt/M. From 1981 on he is member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and head of a master's class for painting at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Vienna. In 1982 he participates once more in the documenta in Kassel. In 1993 a Rainer-Museum is inaugurated in New York.