Contents of picture: Representation of three different stages of life, following the allegoric
ideology of existence of the 15th/16th century (e.g. A. Dürer), transferred to the modem
industrial and nuclear era. The topic of conception, birth, life, death is as old as the history of
man itself. But the topic was taken up at all times again and again by artists and has been
reflected and symbolically illustrated through various forms of culture and life throughout the
centuries, either from a religious-mythological, scientific-realistic or sociopolitical point of
view. The allegoric treatment, using the symbolic illustration and spiritual significance of the
particular abstract concept, like Death as skeleton with scythe, or Love in the form of the god
Amor with arrow, Fortuna with the horn of plenty, the concept of Good through the picture of God as
trinity, the concept of Evil through the picture of the horse-hoofed devil, etc., has been taken up
here and is being symbolized and illustrated through the equally abstract concept of the role of
protection and protector in the armor of a knight including helmet.: Representation of three
different stages of life, following the allegoric ideology of existence of the 15th/16th century
(e.g. A. Dürer), transferred to the modem industrial and nuclear era. The topic of conception,
birth, life, death is as old as the history of man itself. But the topic was taken up at all times
again and again by artists and has been reflected and symbolically illustrated through various
forms of culture and life throughout the centuries, either from a religious-mythological,
scientific-realistic or sociopolitical point of view. The allegoric treatment, using the symbolic
illustration and spiritual significance of the particular abstract concept, like Death as skeleton
with scythe, or Love in the form of the god Amor with arrow, Fortuna with the horn of plenty, the
concept of Good through the picture of God as Trinity, the concept of Evil through the picture of
the horse-hoofed devil, etc., has been taken up here and is being symbolized and illustrated
through the equally abstract concept of the role of protection and protector in the armor of a
knight including helmet. The portrait used here of Dr. Konrad Adenauer (1876 till 1967) has been
chosen from a nonpolitical, purely artistic point of view, since it contains expressively and in a
fascinating way a fulfilled, busy working life and therefore does justice to the symbolic value
used here of the patriarch, the patron saint. Parallel to it runs the protective role of the old
Roman god Janus with the double-faced head, whose forward-turned face here also symbolizes death,
but the backward-looking one represents life. The appropriate coloring complies with the contents
of each picture, e.g. the forward-turned youthful portrait is that of a deceased, well loved and
admired doctor of medicine at his time in his area, the father of the artist, the backward-looking
portrait is that of a still living middle-aged man, which has as its theme the idealization of the
inter-human relation of man and woman, whose irrational character is not necessarily to be seen as
a negation of the given realities. In this two-sided illustration, a conscious reference is made
among other things to the psychoanalysis of Freud (1856-1939), which among other things embraces
the theme father-daughter and man-woman relationship through the century-old role perception of the
respective allocation of the contrast-pair; patriarchal protector role/taking possession, and
oppression/ dependence, a topic which still possesses actual standing now as ever before. Similar
to the interpretation and understanding of the contents of Expressionism (1905 Dresden and 1911
München), which mirrors primarily a world picture marked by fear, the portrayal before us also
does not forego the reference to death/nuclear bomb = destruction, as well as the symbolic
illustration of the abstract concept of evil/ Satan in our world of things and existence,
articulated through a non political and not regionally viewed conception of values "MONEY" in the
form of a DM coin corresponding with today's currency. The pictorial, glassy unapproachability
(allegoric concept of "Noli-Me-Tangere") of another symbol, a votive present of the last century,
repeats and complements in this context the complex concept of conception/birth/life/death, coming
from the "picture within the picture", which represents the unity of one body, consisting of a male
part and a female part. Through this the dubiousness of our existence and actions in this world are
pictorially represented among other things through, for instance, two severed fingers which,
extended, symbolize Trinity, through the partly destructed cross on the depicted globe, and the
crushed value of the crown of a ruler. The hour glass, almost run-out, fits symbolically as well
into the thematic representation of the rational sequence of the complementing contrasts
life/vitality/love and death/peace/purity, through the dark-red fragrant rose and the waxen,
non-fragrant paleness of the lily. Summary: This work is based in the broadest sense among other
things on the various idea fragments of Surrealism (starting from H. Bosch 1450-1516, Italian
Mannerism from 1520, Goya 1746-1828, Chagall and Breton/Manifest 1924, etc.) through autonomous
psychograms, which were recognized and represented in the offered symbolism. The stimulation from
the unconscious, the at first unreflected identity of imagination and representation, is taken up,
and, in order to find another kind of communication and awareness contents, - contrary to
surrealism - through made-aware auto-symbolism, (before the pictorial integration), analogue
to a subjective analytically gained consciousness of controlling emotions and passions, appropriate
rational-differentiated pictures and value signs were inserted. Construction of painting: Divided
into three almost equal, vertical rectangles, which can be found repeating themselves in the other
elements of the picture. It is not completely dispensed, with the use of triangular components
within them. Technique of painting: No use of mechanical aids like an airbrush, stencil printing,
photo-reproduction, etc. Exclusively old-masterly handcraft through layered and varnished painting.
Painting/graphics treated as optically-united composition structures.
J.A.BRO. © / June 1978
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