Gräff's father, Helmuth Gräff is an academic painter, his mother, Martina Maria (née Gach), works as an art professor at Vienna's Sacre Coeur.
At the age of 17 he began to study ilustration and graphic at the private New Design University St. Pölten, and at the summer academy of Geras by Prof. Bernhard Hollemann (2001–04) and Prof. Arthur Redhead (2003–04). From 2002-08 he and Stylianos Schicho studied at Wolfgang Herzig's masterclass of painting at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
In 2010, at the 64th annual fair of St Pöltens Künstlerbund (Art union), he received the "Adolf Peschek Preis" (Adolf Peschek Public Award) in the Museum of the City of St. Pölten. Gräff was a member of the Austrian Red Cross since 2008 and an officer between 2011 and 2015.
In 2012 Gräff created the painting for the vine etiquette of the Red Cross in Lower Austria. The following year, 2013, he organized a concert by the Mojo Blues Band in his own hometown, Gars am Kamp. In the same year, upon the occasion of the celebration of the sister city Gars am Inn in Germany he created the officiel twin city painting.
In 2014, he received from the mayor's bureau of Gars am Kamp a contract to create three paintings for the vine etiquettes "Garser Wein 2014". A local businessman boycott the publishing of the etiquettes about the illustration of a half naked woman, and this led to a media scandal in Austria as well as in Germany
Gräff and his Greek-born girlfriend, Georgia Kazantzidu, are involved in the Austrian-Greek cultural exchange of Vienna. In 2015 he organized an exhibition for the Austrian-Greek community in the "Embassy districy of Vienna". That same year, Gräff and Kazantzidu, together with the Greek Ambassadress of Vienna, Chryssoula Aliferi, welcomed Greek Eurovision Song Contest singer Maria Elena Kyriakou at the Greek Embassy in Vienna.
In 2016, Gräff again received from the mayor's bureau of Gars am Kamp a contract to create three paintings for the vine etiquettes "Garser Wein 2016" (10 years Garser Wein).
William, Giuseppe, Desdemona (2011/2016); wine etiquettes Garser Wein 2016 of the community Gars am Kamp
Achilleion auf Korfu (2014); part of a huge serie about Greece, in the collection of the Embassy of Greece in Vienna
Garser Wein - Freischütz, Eros, Pathos, Agape (2014); the three censored paintings of the vine etiquettes
Schloss Kornberg (2013), collection of the Austrian Counts of Bardeau at their castle Kornberg
Partnerschaftsgemälde (2013); twin city painting Gars am Kamp and Gars am Inn
Kinderburg Rappottenstein (2012); wine etiquette of the Red Cross of Lower Austria
Großes Stillleben mit Elephant und Muschel (2008); won the Adolf Peschek public award at the Museum of the City of St. Pölten
Weltinnenschau-Weltaussenschau (2007/2008); seven paintings for the diplom at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna
Coat of arms Baron Eberl (2006), collection of the Austrian Barons Eberl
Allegorie der Malerei (2005); Advent at the City Hall of Vienna; this painting has been showing at the Austrian broadcaster ORF
Porträt von Isolde und Ernst Hiesmayr (2004), drawings of the Austrian architect and his wife.
Dr. Elisabeth Voggeneder, Austrian curator and art historian wrote about the artist:
In Matthias Laurenz Gräff's paintings one finds the expression of Baroque elements. With the early age of 29 he has a huge extensive and varied Oeuvre. In observing his works one thinks of his paragons as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Claude Monet. In his still life paintings one can realize that he even rises above Cezanne in his target and design vocabulary. Gräff interprets this traditional theme in a new way and carries it in a new era.
The exhibition leader (Steirerschlössl Zeltweg) and art curator of the Red Bull "project spielberg" Misses Sabrina Redhead stated about the artist:
In Gräff's artworks you can obviously realize the influence of the Austrian art history especially the classical modern Art. His style is distinctive and significant. He achieves combination of traditional and modern in such a way that has not been seen before. He very often uses "pure" colours; this reminds us of Henri Matisse. He tends to be enormously dynamic, he generates moods and every view of his works allows new points of view and experiences. Although the variety of his perspective underlies Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh, his works are unique and peerless.
"Garser Wein 2016", 10 years Garser wine at "Weinfest '16", Gars am Kamp
"Der Anreiz des Seins, Allegorie - Stillleben - Landschaft", Kunst im Waldviertel, Kunst & Seminarhotel Geras/AT
"Liebreizendes Griechenland", KunstSalon im Wiener Botschaftsviertel, Vienna/AT
"Matthias Laurenz Gräff und Helmuth Gräff", Galerie Daliko, Krems an der Donau/AT
Steirerschlössl Zeltweg, Red Bull Project Spielberg/AT
Cityhall Korneuburg/AT
Erstes österreichisches Museum für Alltagsgeschichte, Neupölla/AT
Red Cross Lower Austria, Tulln an der Donau/AT
Gaming Charterhouse/AT
Siemens AG Headquarter, Linz/AT
St. Pöltner Künstlerbund, Museum of the City of St. Pölten/AT
Galerie Austria/AT
Advent im Wiener Rathaus 2008 and ORF (Austrian broadcaster), Vienna/AT
Diplom exhibition 2008, University of Applied Arts, Vienna/AT
Kunsthalle Wien-Karlsplatz project space, Vienna/AT
Dr. Alexander Van der Bellen, 12th President of Austria, Vienna/AT
Community of Gars am Kamp/AT
Nick Simper (Founding member of Deep Purple)
Embassy of Greece in Vienna/AT/GRE
Schloss Kornberg Castle, collection of the Counts of Bardeau/Grafen von Bardeau/AT
Community of Gars am Inn/GER
Interkultultureller Verein Makedonien, Vienna/AT
Community of Neupölla/AT
Red Cross of Netheraustria, Tulln an der Donau/AT
Austrian Red Cross, Vienna/AT
Mondi paper AG, AT
Art Collection University of Applied Arts, Vienna/AT
Geras Abbey, Geras/AT
2010, "Adolf Peschek public award", 64th annual exhibition of the St. Pöltner Künstlerbund, Museum of the City of St. Pölten/AT
2008, "Diplom mit gutem Erfolg", University of Applied Arts, Vienna/AT
2014, Worldwide Family Reunion "530 Jahre Graeff" at castle Kornberg
2013, Concert of the Mojo Blues Band in Gars am Kamp
Mag. Sabrina Redhead, Ausstellungskatalog Kunst im Murtal" 2014, "Kunst - Tradition und Aufbruch" 2014, Ausstellung im Steirerschlössl Zeltweg, Red Bull Projekt Spielberg; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
Univ-Doz Dr. Friedrich Polleross: Gemälde von Matthias Laurenz Gräff im Museum in Neupölla. In: Das Waldviertel, herausgegeben vom Waldviertler Heimatbund, p. 211/213; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
Helmuth Gräff, "Zwischen den Welten", Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz, pp. 134–35, 2008; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
Universität für Angewandte Kunst, Diplome Sommersemester 2007/08; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
"Parasite | Paradise", Interventionen zeitgenössischer Kunst auf Burg Forchtenstein, pp. 78–79; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
Vernissage. das Magazin für aktuelles Ausstellungsgeschehen (German)
Vision magacine of China VISION Magacine, March 2006, "Metempsychosis of Art", p. 108/111; (Chinese)
Matthias Laurenz Gräff. Allegorie-Stillleben-Landschaft; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
STERZ, Zeitschrift für Literatur, Kunst und Kulturpolitik (German)
Ausstellungskatalog Meisterklasse Herzig, "Die Figur als Aufgabe", Stadtgalerie Vienna; accessed 7 August 2015. (German)
