Living with Art

The character of a picture takes on new life in the space that surrounds it

Painting: Alexander Waltner

Photography: Andrei Liankevich

Curator: Regina Maria Anzenberger

A catalogue is a catalogue is a catalogue… and unfortunately they always consist of reproductions of originals. These images are more or less close to the original, but it is only in the original itself that a picture can achieve its full effect, revealing its charisma and its soul in the same way that a photograph of a charismatic person can never approach the original.

Perhaps this comparison seems a bit odd to you, but you have certainly had the experience of seeing a picture in a catalogue and then being confronted with the original: suddenly you are deeply moved. You try to analyse the picture, you view it from all angles and allow its effect to sink in. And you take something of the picture home with you, perhaps for your entire life.

We have given careful thought to how pictures might be shown with more of their soul, how to do more than simply reproduce them, more than make a lifeless copy that, at best, only documents the original.

The idea was to follow the best pictures to the loveliest locations. To track them down to the places where they are now achieving their full effect. But also to see the new owners in their relationship with the pictures. What are their surroundings when they are brushing their teeth, working, playing, relaxing, falling asleep or getting up in the morning?

Alexander Waltner’s pictures take on new life in an environment shared with their owners and visitors. Tension and relaxation, communication, meditation, the enjoyment of art, a feast for the eyes, visual composition, Inspiration, identification, decoration: there are many possibilities.

As a photographer used to covering people, Andrei Liankevich has created these new compositions with great sensitivity. With enormous skill and care he has captured Alexander Waltner’s paintings in their spatial interaction with people, thus creating completely new works. They provide a fresh view of these paintings as well as important insights into a scene that usually remains closed to the public. These are scenes of living, garden and office spaces with the powerful works of the painter Alexander Waltner.

Regina Maria Anzenberger, March 2007, Vienna