Painting

Paintings are an invaluable part of the Carrino Collection. Most are original subjects, while some are excellent copies of classic Beethoven-themed paintings. These include Balestrieri’s Beethoven and Joseph Karl Stieler’s portrait, perhaps the most popular of the many devoted to the composer. 

Some of the original portraits in the Collection are surprisingly modern, with styles ranging from Expressionism to an almost abstract Neo-Impressionism. 

Other paintings are important for their historical value. The collection includes several rare works on the theme of Beethoven’s birth and childhood, periods for which few records exist in the vast iconography dedicated to him. There are also emblematic glimpses of his life, such as Rudolf Alfred Höger’s walk by the brook, which takes us to a prolific period of his life (1807–1808), in Heiligenstadt where years earlier he had become fully aware of his deafness. Other paintings, such as Max Sieber’s Veneration of Beethoven, the hero piece of this exhibition, are extraordinary and unique interpretations of the Beethoven myth. When acquiring the works, the focus is on their intrinsic artistic quality and on their documentary value. Here we will look at only a few paintings, as many others are documented in detail in the exhibition. 

zoom_in NH KILLING? (illegible signature)
Beethoven, oil on canvas, undated, from the same period as the lithograph by Theodor Neu, Berlin, 1841.
A steel engraving (no. 17) of this portrait was produced in Nuremburg in 1852 by German portrait artist and engraver Carl Mayer (*Nuremburg, 1798 – †Nuremburg, 1868). zoom_in GIUSEPPE POGNA, *Trieste, 1845 – †Trieste, 1907.
Oil painting on canvas, signed, Trieste, early 1890s.
An Italian-style Romantic portrait, one of the few Italian works dedicated to Beethoven in the 19th century. It comes from the Forti family of musicians from Trieste. zoom_in STANISLAW JANOWSKI. Polish painter, illustrator, stage designer, *Krakow, 6 October 1866 – †Krakow, 23 February 1942. Beethoven, signed oil painting, Krakow, late 1800s.
Bust inspired by the work of German painter Carl Jäger, *1833 – †1887, one of the best known posthumous portraits of the composer from the 19th century. zoom_in G. PICCIOLI, Tyrolean painter, portrait and landscape artist, active in the first half of the 20th century.
Beethoven in the Whirlwind, oil on canvas, 1927, signed and dated.
This Neo-Impressionist work shows the maestro in the woods in Vienna, in a dramatic windy, autumn landscape. zoom_in ROBERT FALCUCCI, *Chateauroux, 10 April 1900 – †Saint-Aubin-Château-Neuf, 13 May 1989.
Oil on canvas, c. 1950, signed in the lower right and on the rear.
An Expressionist work by the “painter of light”, and famous French artist, illustrator and graphic artist. zoom_in H. SEIFERT, German painter, first half of the 20th century.
Oil on canvas, signed on original, 1950s.
A Neo-Impressionist work with Beethoven’s face freely inspired by Franz Klein’s life mask.