"Who's Bothering"
by Klaus Strubelview biographyAcademic Painter of Fine Art / Art Historian
We are in a historic cool wine
cellar of a European Monastery in the 19th century in which authentic details and equipment can be seen.
The Master of Wine sits in front of an
artistically carved wine cask. He just poured the wine in the glass, ready to taste the vintage, to focus on the bouquet, when he becomes aware of
someone coming down the stairs.
With a startled look in his face, the Friar turns toward the shadow on the wall of the stairway into the wine
cellar. Actually, he just wanted to have a moment of his own, tasting the wine and enjoying a snack of bread, cheese and radish, but, here we go,
who’s bothering now?
An interesting aspect too is the way he holds the wine glass between his fingers.
While I was university student in
Germany, I also studied Art History and traveled through Europe to visit historic landmarks, museums, cathedrals and famous monasteries. I often took
the opportunity to rent a boarding room in some of the famous monasteries because you could learn so much about the history and the various fields of
expertise, - especially the one that fascinated me: The making of wine and champagne.
For ages, the brothers in their different orders have
represented the highest level of culture. They were the keepers of science, education, inventions, literature, fine art, music and developers of world
famous champagne and excellent wines.
During wine tasting in their cellars, I was surrounded by historic tools and equipment, hand carved
casks and had wonderful talks with the cellarers.
These lasting impressions inspired me to preserve certain situations in the life of the
Masters of Winemaking.
The play of the feature in my works tells whole stories. Each mime in their faces, their gestures, their hands and
fingers and many more details, bring life into these captured moments. Now and then, I inject a little touch of humor in circumstances of their life;
after all, they are only human.
The artistic quality of my painting contains historic details and authentic tools the winemakers worked
with.
I want my paintings to be entertaining, conversational pieces for the art collectors and at the same time to be very decorative.