"People travel the world
looking for what he is missing.
And he returns home,
to find it."
George Moore
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Dear painting friends,
The Irish writer George Moore describes in his quote a feeling that I cannot describe better in words. But maybe in a painting... or better yet, in a whole series of paintings.
In 1987, 36 years ago, I moved from my home in the Eifel to Bavaria in Munich to study the art of painting. Full of enthusiasm and vigor, I threw myself from a tranquil life in the country - in Kottenheim - into big city life in Munich. More or less inexperienced, I believed back then that I would be able to discover a lot of new things in this "cosmopolitan city with a heart" and its historically charged art academy. Yes, that was certainly the case and I was able to get to know many interesting people and personalities, benefit from their knowledge and contacts and I received a very clear view of German and European art history. My small home village could not have offered me all of this.
But when I go back to the Eifel for a visit and see the landscape of my childhood, my soul is enveloped by an indescribably benevolent sound and carried through the day that I feel the wish that this moment would last forever.
It is the sound of the colors of my homeland, it is the gentle rhythm of the hills and the calm flow of the fields that wash gold, green and silver shining waves from the infinite horizon to my feet. Above all, a high sky stretches protectively in changing tones and sets the key as if in a never-ending fugue.
Certain perspectives inevitably recall feelings from my childhood and the landscape in my soul is kept fresh and blooming by the gardener of memory with every new glance.
The inner view – the outward view
The first 15 paintings show part of the "inner view", the way I carry the landscape of my childhood in my soul. The sky is not blue and the colors do not correspond to a photograph. These colors in the paintings have the sound of memory.
The second part shows different landscape sections in a subjective tone, as I “feel” them rather than “see” them. So what remains are subjective landscape portraits that are also idealized and, in a few motifs, are more like a utopia. The energy transition began in the Eifel many years ago and there are entire areas there where wind farms have grown. These paintings depict the pre-wind era and, as shown, are no longer visible.
Life is short, art is long
How was I supposed to capture all the views of my childhood and youth in one picture? Impossible. Hence the decision to create as large a cross-section as possible in many small paintings. The 30 cm x 20 cm format gives me the opportunity to capture and interpret or preserve what is essential to me. In the meantime, larger paintings will be created from some motifs, because the Eifel landscape offers many motifs that no small format can contain.
I'm looking forward to it and will introduce it to you in another newsletter when the time comes.
Kind regards from the studio,
Klaus
