On the occasion of the exhibition "Mélancolie : génie et folie en Occident" at Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais and Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, director Moritz Wullen states in the catalogue:.
"In einer fotografischen Inszenierung Gottfried Helnweins erhebt sich der Künstler, fäulnisschwarz und monumental wie das Mahnmal einer letzen Einsicht: 'So ist Verweiflung, diese Krankheit im Selbst, die Krankheit zum Tode. […]. Der Tod ist nicht das letzte der Krankheit, aber der Tod ist in einem fort das Letzte. Von dieser Krankheit erlöst zu werden durch den Tod ist eine Unmöglichkeit, denn die Krankheit und deren Qual und der Tod ist gerade, nicht sterben zu können.” ...

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexiko, „Austrian Contemporary Art and Post-War Painting - The Essl Collection“.
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At "Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag" (German Protestant Church Day), the annual convention of the German Protestant Church, Bishop Dr. Margot Käßmann referes in her opening sermon to the images of suffering children in the art of Gottfried Helnwein.
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December 21, Helnwein's first grandchild Croí (cree) Sequoia is born.
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Kunsthalle Wien und Kunstforum Wien - Superstars. Das Prinzip Prominenz in der Kunst. Von Warhol bis Madonna.
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2004 The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco organizes the first one-person exhibition of Gottfried Helnwein at an American Museum: "The Child, works by Gottfried Helnwein" at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.
The show is seen by almost 130,000 visitors and the San Francisco Chronicle quotes it the most important exhibition of a contemporary artist in 2004. Steven Winn, Chronicle Arts and Culture Critic, wrote: "Helnwein's large format, photo-realist images of children of various demeanors boldly probed the subconscious. Innocence, sexuality, victimization and haunting self-possession surge and flicker in Helnwein's unnerving work" ...

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The San Francisco Chronicle reviews Helnwein's exhibition at the Legion of Honor over two full pages..
Chronicle Art Critic Kennethy Baker writes "Dark and detached, the art of Gottfried helnwein demands a response..." and Carolyne Zinko "Vivid Images challenge Status Quo." ...

ZKM, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, „Meisterwerke der Medienkunst aus der ZKM-Sammlung“.

Helnwein meets Roman Polanski in Prag.
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Helnwein lectures at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
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Stage, light, video, costumes design for Robert Schuhmanns "Das Paradies und die Peri", Robert-Schuhmann-Festival, Düsseldorf, director and coreographer: Gregor Seyffert & Compagnie Berlin.

Robert-Schumann-Festival 2004

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visits Helnwein in his Los Angeles studio.
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First Exhibition of Helnwein's Landscapes under the title "Irish and other Landscapes"at the Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, Ireland.
"The Times"(UK) comments on the show:"...these photo-paintings appear even more real than a photograph: they are hyper-real, super-saturated depictions of the world that surrounds us, as we would like to see it. Helnwein’s landscapes offer us the world as we see it in our mind’s eye, our memories.
What is certain is that with these works Helnwein has raised the bar for artists to come with art that is groundbreaking in terms of scale, skill and vision. Painted mountains, fields and sky can never be the same again." ...

Helnwein receives Irish citizenship..
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Sir Ben Kingsley stays for some time at Helnwein's Irish castle.
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Mitchell Waxman writes in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal: "The most powerful images that deal with Nazism and Holocaust themes are by Anselm Kiefer and Helnwein.
Although, Kiefer’s work differs considerably from Helnwein’s in his concern with the effect of German aggression on the national psyche and the complexities of German cultural heritage. But Kiefer and Helnwein’s work are both informed by the personal experience of growing up in a post-war German speaking country... William Burroughs said that the American revolution begins in books and music, and political operatives implement the changes after the fact. To this maybe we can add art. And Helnwein's art might have the capacity to instigate change by piercing the veil of political correctness to recapture the primitive gesture inherent in art." ...

2003 Premiere of the Helnwein documentary "Ninth November Night" at the Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles.

Museum of Tolerance / Simon Wiesenthal Center

Production of "Ninth November Night".
The documentary. Children and the Holocaust in the art of Gottfried Helnwein.
Director: Henning Lohner
Commentators: Sean Penn, Maximilian Schell, Jason Lee
Introductory text by Simon Wiesenthal
Camera: Jason Lee, Darren Rydstrom, Bernd Reinhardt

20-by-60 foot outdoor installation “Modern Sleep 2003” at the L.A. Artshow 2003, Santa Monica.

"Paradise Burning," one man show, Modernism Gallery, San Francisco .