| christa stadler Berlin horse paintings | Berliner Abendblatt |
ON-SITE MEETING"Horses in the 4th floor"
You nearly expect to feel the horse's smooth warm coat - his muscles and tendons clearly visible under the skin. However, the horses of Chorwin Stadler are only made of colour and canvas, they are only painted, but you can
be forgiven for occasionally imagining hearing a hushed snort.
Chorwin Stadler, lives in the Wedding, she painted horses when she was a child. The 47 year old grew up in
Allgaeu (near the Alps). She was a horse-mad girl just like many you find today. She did'nt want to become a groom or a riding therapist but 'The Best Bavarian Horse Painter'.
After ending school times she studied art at the Academy for Contemporary Art in Munich and finished with the title of Master Scholar. "At that time people said 'Painting was dead', and most of the artists were working with video and installations" she says."I just wanted to paint objectively as well as paint some abstracts". Then Chorwin moved to Berlin, and whilst many artists turned towards to the noway dead painting again, she became a successful video artist in Berlin Mitte.
However, one day the horses were back again. "I wanted to know if I could paint them lifelike", she said.
Horses, one must add, are very difficult to paint. The animals coat is not long and furry which would hide the exact forms of muscles, tendons and joints underneath, so, the painter must express the reflection of light on the smooth coat. He needs to cope with complex areas such as nostrils and hooves and paint the eyes in such a way that they come to life.
Chorwin Stadler has a masterly command of that. However, she acquired that skill with dedication to her art.
There were countless hours spent in riding stables and paddocks watching horses, drawing and taking photos. "Sometimes I only look at the hooves for an hour or so", she says. Chorwin also went to the veterinary institute to study the horse's anatomy.
This petite blond lady chooses the subjects for her paintings from famous warm bloods, and successful
race horses. She has also painted a sire in possession of the Queen of England. Until now, she painted the almost life-size canvas without any order - but she was delighted by the beauty and grandeur of the horse, and by the superior tints of the colours in the coat and the desire to capture it. It takes about two or three months to complete a painting and there may be about 30 different coats of colour to get the reflection of light and shadow on the coat or the natural lifelike look to the eyes.
Then the horse is realistic and comes to life and however, this is the dream - because Chorwin Stadler does not
paint a countryside background. There are no woods, meadows, buildings, people to detract from the horse in
the picture. So the horse in spite of its realistic depiction seems to be out of time and place, an image of yearning, disconnected from reality.
In her big Wedding sudio flat on the light an airy 4th floor which is also a Gallery, Chorwin Stadler shows her paintings and drawings to an interested public. In the lastest pictures she showes her art of detailed works.
These are feathery pencil drawings showing horses and people.Image:
Chorwin Stadler in her Wedding pre-war flat.
A newly made opening in the wall offers more of Chorwin's 'horses'.
written by: Gertrud Voellering
translation: Ch. Stadler
