WOLFGANG BELTRACCHI
KAIROS - Der richtige Moment

Travelling exhibition:
4– 21 September, 2019 | Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, Austria
9-13 July, 2019 | Schloss Esterházy Lockenhaus, Burgenland, Germany
20 November, 2018 – 13January, 2019 | Barlach Halle K, Hamburg, Germany
5 October – 3 November, 2018 | Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, Italy

The Kairos exhibition shows the unseen from 2,000 years of European art history: forgotten works and those that were never created. "KAIROS. Der richtige Moment" (KAIROS. The Right Moment) brings together photographs by Mauro Fiorese and paintings created by Wolfgang Beltracchi especially for this art project. The photographs show the unseen works of the past stored in the archives of important European museums.

Fiorese sought out the depots and makes the profusion of art history vivid. Wolfgang Beltracchi devotes his attention to paintings that were never made: Paintings in the handwriting of style-defining painters of the past, capturing significant historical motifs and events missing from art history. With the Kairos exhibition, initiator and art promoter Christian Zott opens up a playful and vivid approach to 2000 years of art: from a contemporary perspective, it shows what was and what could have been.

For the Kairos project, Wolfgang Beltracchi has created paintings of missed image motifs from 23 epochs of European art history.

Art epochs include: Roman Antiquity, Byzantine icon painting, German Renaissance, Little Ice Age, The Golden Age, Geman Romanticism, English Romanticism, Art Nouveau, Expressionism, avant-garde, and diversity of styles.

Wolfgang BeltracchiA characteristic feature of Dionysius is his lean face. A preliminary study also defines the facial features of the saint.

Wolfgang BeltracchiWolfgang Beltracchi paints the face of the centaur Chiron on the wet plaster. A fresco is created in the style of the 2nd century AD.

Wolfgang BeltracchiDancing was the heart of the Ballets Russes. So at the beginning of Wolfgang Beltracchi's Ballets Russes series Beltracchi paints one of the most dazzling and admired dancers of the movement, Ida Rubinstein.

Wolfgang BeltracchiWolfgang Beltracchi in his studio in Montpellier, March 2017. After studying in detail how Lucas Cranach the Elder composed and created his works, he paints using the master’s artistic voice.

Wolfgang BeltracchiIn the artist’s studio: before Wolfgang Beltracchi put paint to canvas, he planned the structure of the painting in a watercolour study.

Wolfgang BeltracchiThe thick paint is applied with putty knives, painting knives, rags, brush handles, and paint that is almost dry shaped with fingers to gain the corporality of Turner’s artistic voice.

Wolfgang BeltracchiPastel colours, hazy contours, fine details in between – Wolfgang Beltracchi works on the picture of the HMS Beagle in the Devonport harbor he is painting in the artistic voice of William Turner.

Wolfgang BeltracchiThe first strong colours glow in the predominantly pastel background. These kind of highlights are typical of Turner’s artistic voice.

Wolfgang BeltracchiIn preliminary studies, Wolfgang works on Gustav Klimt’s facial expression in his Swiss studio.

Wolfgang BeltracchiIn June 2017, Wolfgang Beltracchi paints the group portrait of Der Blaue Reiter in front of The Münter House in Murnau. He had already prepared studies for the work in his studio.