A retrospective for the Austrian artist, Gottfried Helnwein opens Wednesday at the Albertina gallery in Vienna, looking back on three decades of the artist's work. Helnwein, 75, is known both for his works depicting abuse inflicted on defenceless children and his collaborations with controversial US shock rocker Marilyn Manson and German metal band Rammstein. "We must'n't forget that almost all important art was initially perceived as a provocation, a scandal. It's only much later, when society and people have had the time to think about things enough for decades or centuries, that they suddenly approve of a work and think it's great," he tells AFP. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES