"The Nap"
by Klaus Strubelview biographyAcademic Painter of Fine Art / Art Historian
We are
in a historic deep, cool and airy wine cellar of a European Monastery in the 19th century, in which you notice authentic details and
equipment.
Brother John (on the left) was asked to bring wine up from the cellar for the supper time of the brothers. Of course, he had to
carefully taste some wines to pick out the right sort for their meal. This responsible job made him a little tired and he felt, he needed to take a
tiny nap.
As brother John and the wine were missed by the other brothers, Brothers Bartholomew and Henry were sent down to look what is taking
Brother John so long and, of course, they found him blissfully dozing. Now, as all three did not show up after a while, the fourth brother Dominick
is opening the cellar door to look what is keeping them.
While I was university student in Germany, I also studied Art History and travelled
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 humour 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.