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Monday, March 30, 2009

Arts Yesterday's Kisses

Posted by on Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 12:49 PM

5d56/1238442225-3-aneastberlinmuraloferichhoneckera.jpg

One of Berlin's best-known public artworks, the famous painting of Brezhnev kissing East German president Erich Honecker (by Russian painter Dmitri Vrubel) has been erased, without the artist's permission. It's all part of a restoration project.

In order to preserve the Wall, all the remaining art works are to be removed using steam. The underlying concrete will then be restored and, finally, the original painters have to come and repaint their section of the Wall. "This time we will use special paints," said Alavi, "so that it lasts longer." A special varnish will then be applied to facilitate the removal of any graffiti.

But Dmitri Vrubel, who never agreed to his artwork being destroyed, is not happy with this explanation. "I've got no problem with a restoration," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "But now it will be a new picture. I can't simply repeat my first painting."

Photo from militaryphotos.com.

 

Comments (15) RSS

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1
wow. that's fucked up. i've seen that painting before in the checkpoint charlie museum on Koch Straße and Friedrich Straße when I was there back in 2006. it's a great painting
Posted by apres_moi on March 30, 2009 at 1:13 PM
2
What a bizarre notion. next they should steam clean the poplar panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted and then get it repainted with better paint.

Posted by Cracker Jack on March 30, 2009 at 1:35 PM
3
The German translates as "My God, help me survive this deadly love". My Russian isn't so good, I only get "...this deadly love."
Posted by Zander on March 30, 2009 at 1:48 PM
4
Might be helpful to see some photos of how the painting *actually* looked right before they undertook this project.

http://berlinka.livejournal.com/850453.h…
Posted by Was already ruined on March 30, 2009 at 2:01 PM
5
@4 -- yikes. Changes the story a little, doesn't it?
Posted by Fnarf on March 30, 2009 at 2:09 PM
6
The paintings ARE the wall. It's a historical document, not a billboard.
Posted by danhowes on March 30, 2009 at 2:17 PM
7
@6, read @4. The paintings were already destroyed by taggers and vandals.
Posted by Fnarf on March 30, 2009 at 2:22 PM
8
@4,
Jesus! Yeah, I'm guessing "restoration" was really just about getting rid of all the fucking graffiti.
Posted by Urgutha Forka on March 30, 2009 at 2:52 PM
9
This is all a little hyperbolic. The graffiti was and remains one of the integral parts of the Wall. Removing it or pretending somehow that a miles-long wall through a major world city won't get graffiti on it is plain naive--"real" that was put on the wall was done with this temporariness in mind. It's actually part of the point, isn't it. (It's like pretending your masterpiece sandcastle won't melt into the ocean at next high tide.) Berlin is COVERED in graffiti and always has been, too--it's part of the charm of the city.

Also, the Wall was not designed from a materials standpoint to have art permanently displayed on it--and the artists who have used it did not use paints that will stand the test of time, either. (That includes the "real' art and mere graffiti tags alike.) So either you accept the temporariness of the art and graffiti on the Wall (that would be my preference), or you have to resurface the wall so it can have paintings done on it last much, much longer.

In either scenario, the existing art necessarily must be lost and redone or replaced.
Posted by Simac on March 30, 2009 at 3:17 PM
10
I agree, Simac, but the original post gives the impression that the artwork destroyed was what you see in that picture, but it's not -- that artwork is long gone.
Posted by Fnarf on March 30, 2009 at 3:49 PM
11
This is kind of weird. Normally Europa has much stronger moral rights in place to protect artists when compared to the US. I don't know much german law, but I do find the fact that this happened bizarre. You'd think this would be help up in a gazillion courts.

Anyway, for US artists, look up the VARA so you can prevent this from happening to you.
Posted by buttlaw on March 30, 2009 at 7:51 PM
12
Dmitri Vrubel

"Vrubel" means "sparrow," I'm pretty sure.

I also think "toedliche liebe" means something like "fatal attraction."
Posted by Give me... your dirty love on March 30, 2009 at 9:18 PM
13
I recognized Brezhnev, but thought Honecker was Kissinger. That'd make my day.
Posted by sashik on March 31, 2009 at 12:27 AM
14
Hey graffiti fans: What do you think now? You like that a bunch of assholes ruined this painting?
Posted by Greg on March 31, 2009 at 10:36 AM
15
#3 has the translation right -- same in Russian as in German: "Lord help me survive amid this deadly love."
Posted by KevinVT on April 1, 2009 at 8:22 AM

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