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Still Life
Still Life
Still Life

Still Life

Artist (Hamburg, Germany, born 1942)
Date1968
Mediumvarnished wax
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 25.8 cm, Width: 24.5 cm
AcquisitionThe Scottish Arts Council Bequest, 1997.
Copyright© the artist
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG013587
Keywords
About MeThe writer Christopher Andreae once wrote of Sylvia von Hartmann’s work that it is “almost sacred, like a garden of love” and indeed there is a joyous quality to it: in this early work a delightful smiling fish flies over a vase of flowers.

Hartmann constructs her paintings using gouache, watercolour and as here, pigmented wax, creating an intricate, glowing surface with colours that are reminiscent of the windows of an ancient cathedral.

She has said that she finds it hard to give her pictures away—like 'having to watch your lover dance with someone else' - for the subject of her work is her inner life. The recurring motifs - stars, moons, birds, flowers, trees, fruits, bridges and hills - give a physical presence to her 'stories and secrets, joys and sorrows'.