Portrait of Beethoven

Arthur Paunzen

The face of Ludwig van Beethoven, likely taken from his death mask, and hence his stoic visage, eyes closed, looms like storm clouds over a landscape of gently rolling hills in a plate from Arthur Paunzen’s Beethoven series, done as an ode to the composer’s Symphony No. 3 (Eroica). This might be in reference to the third movement, the scherzo, in which the composer begins to step out of the gloom of a dirge and into the brighter tones of triumph. The symphony is often interpreted as a farewell to the world as Beethoven knew it up until the turn of the 19th century, when he began experiencing hearing loss. It begins in darkness and ends on a note of calm; here, the viewer sees the composer- and artist - just as he begins to emerge from despair and into something resembling eternal peace.

Paunzen’s interest in Beethoven reflects his personal style, which often dwells on the human condition in terms of monumental emotion: love, hate, misery, joy. His work is often Symbolist in nature, but he also explored more traditional themes: nudes, portraits, images of the sea, and architecture.

From the collection of Danish critic and author Georg Bröchner (1874-1933) who wrote for the British art magazine "The Studio" in the early 20th century.