These works were made in 2015 for the Beethoven anniversary and are based on Joseph Karl Stieler’s 1820 portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. In each piece, the original image is darkened to the point where only parts of the portrait remain visible. The composition stays the same throughout the series: Beethoven holding the manuscript of the Missa solemnis. Small changes in tone and density create slight differences between the works, but all of them reduce the original painting to a minimal image that sits close to black. Details of the face, landscape and score appear only gradually. The works are presented behind museum glass, so the viewer’s reflection becomes part of the image while looking at it. This creates a shifting relationship between the historical portrait and the person standing in front of it. Rather than clearly presenting Beethoven as a fixed figure, the series focuses on disappearance, reflection and the act of looking itself.
Exhibited:
Credo, Beethoven Haus Bonn 2015.
The Times they are a–changing. Galerie Bastian, Berlin. 2018.
Hotel Beethoven, Bozar Brussels. 2020 ,
Beethoven im Blick moderner und historisher Kunst - Kulturhaus Zanders Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. 2015.
LUDWIG VAN : Le Mythe Beethoven Philharmonie de Paris. Paris. 2016.
Further reading:
Credo I-V: Exhibition catalogue, Beethoven Haus, Bonn
Ludwig Van Le Mythe Beethoven Galliard Cite de la musique Philharmonie de Paris
