Exhibitions

The question of the position of the artist and the task of art in the world plays an important role in the work of Düsseldorf painter Wolfgang Schäfer (*1955). In this context, Schäfer has repeatedly engaged with outstanding personalities from the world of culture, whose life and work have made them leading figures in determining their own position, including Ludwig van Beethoven.

The painting cycle "Beethoven Hommage", created in 2003, is an expression of his intensive examination of the Bonn composer, who for Schäfer became the epitome of the search for the divine in art and the longing for fulfilment. In the six large-format paintings in this series, portraits of Beethoven are combined with excerpts from his music manuscripts and letters, as well as with quotations from others, which are intended to illuminate the intellectual background to his position as an artist.

On the occasion of this year's Beethovenfest, Wolfgang Schäfer's Beethoven pictures will be on display in the chamber music hall of the Beethoven-Haus, where they will complement the concerts organised there and encourage visitors and concert guests to reflect on the composer and his artistic world.

A leporello with all the pictures from the "Beethoven Hommage" and explanatory texts will be published for the exhibition.