Roll over Chopin

This year we are celebrating not only the "European Capital of Culture Ruhr 2010", but also the 200th birthday of Frédéric Chopin, the famous Polish composer and pianist. Just in his twenties he broke new grounds with his "études". Chopin’s music changed the playing and the building of the piano as well as composing piano music. He has been revolutionary and 1830 he composed a "Revolutionary Étude". Our Polish friends have every reason to celebrate a musical hero, who, unfortunately, passed away when only 39 years old. Warsaw, Paris and New York are just organizing concerts in memory of his genius.


Our Polish friends also take part in the exhibition "Feuerländer – regions of Vulcan". Several Polish painters will represent their country, including Piotre Naliwajko and Bronisław Krawczuk. Sure, that’s not the only reason for thinking about Chopin relating the exhibition. Chopin, who has been living in Paris, the European "Capitale du Musique", since he was 21 year old, is also known for synaesthetic effects of his music. Balsac, Heine and Nietzsche didn’t shrink from comparing him with the famous Italian Renaissance painter Raffael. On the other hand Philipp Runge, the German Romantic Painter, claimed a beautiful painting has to include music.
















Well, the paintings, called together by means of the "burning" slogan "Feuerländer" will not only be beautiful. But the beholder of these quite often "fiery" objects on the industrialization of coal and steel should also be affected by sparks of synaesthesia. Of course he shouldn´t admire a picture just like adoring a "prince", as old Schopenhauer has demanded 1819, still representing with his words a pre-industrial era. In the wake of the consumer society and new Warhol art is more likely aligned with reproducible stars. But in contrast to the constant flickering and shimmering of the post-modern media, in front of the original works of art in our exhibition the audience will be experiencing the real three dimensional measures, the gamut of its colours, the traces of the artist’s brush, in a word: its particular atmosphere, its "mood".

Sketchy drawing of the "Kyriatiden", February 27th

Perhaps Runge is somehow right and we hear some kind of melody or sound, don’t know, whether a harmonious or even a jarring one. Let me end up this reflection with a question: Should we just play Chopin in the background of the exhibition - not only in honour of the Polish European artist, but simply on the occasion of the international dimension of the presentation and in order to highlight or provoke possibly unique synaesthetic opportunities?

Long after Runge Wilhelm Albermann has built a group of four sculptures, known as "Kyriatiden" (1879-81). Originally designated for the gable of an art gallery in Düsseldorf, the classical "Kyriatiden" are now placed near the building of the "Kunstverein". Albermann shows the four allegories of art. Whereas Architecture and Sculpture are making up a pair on the right, on the left Music with the "lyra" and Painting with brush and palette are standing hand in hand, deeply attached to each other.