Читать книгу Tal Sterngast. Twelve Paintings - Michael Eissenhauer - Страница 6

In her analyses of twelve outstanding works of European painting, Tal Sterngast unites the craft of art criticism with unsparing social inquiry. In her singular reading, the film scholar extends and sharpens our perspective of the works in question; for in these paintings, the products of bygone centuries, she perceives contemporary life’s gravitas and volatility. Sterngast stresses not so much the archaic quality of these museal objects, but instead their current relevance and significance to both art-historical and sociopolitical reflections and insights. These are perhaps more important today than ever before. With her book, the author offers us fresh views at old works.

A moment of doubt and unease led Sterngast to visit the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin in 2016. The momentous political developments and upheavals of recent years had just begun, and their social and moral consequences—which continue to profoundly shake structures that until then had appeared stable—were no more than a shadowy foreboding. Sterngast came to the Gemäldegalerie hoping that these centuries-old works of art could provide the guidance to “return to the present, better equipped,” as she writes. I am happy to report that her quest was successful, as well as remarkable. Through encounters with what was familiar, the author discovered the exceptional.

Besides the author, who happily accommodated my request that she assemble her essays on works from the Gemäldegalerie into book form, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the production of this publication—my colleagues in the General Directorate and the Gemäldegalerie who worked on the content and editing of this book, as well as the staff at Hatje Cantz Verlag for their time and efforts.

Michael Eissenhauer

Director General of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Director of the Gemäldegalerie, Skulpturensammlung and the Museum für Byzantinische Kunst