Franz Gertsch (1930–2022)

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Eve in Paradise – that might equally well be the title of this triptych. It presents humanity as part of creation: natural, unclothed and at one with nature.

The photographs on which these works are based were taken during a journey to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean in 1985. Fifteen years later, Gertsch created a monumental woodcut of Maria lying on the sand. A further ten years later, he returned to the motif in this painting. It is a tribute to his wife, Maria Gertsch-Meer – his lifelong companion, adviser and collaborator. Like a modern Venus, she appears here in the full bloom of her beauty. The painting recalls celebrated Renaissance depictions of Venus by artists such as Giorgione and Titian. Gertsch himself once said:

'I am a painter with unattainable Renaissance visions.'

But Gertsch had something else in mind here.

'Werden – Sein – Vergehen.' – 'Becoming – Being – Passing Away.'

These three words marked the starting point for his work on the Guadeloupe triptych. In the end, however, he decided not to assign them to any one painting. Maria, the central panel, was painted first, followed by Bromelia on the left, and finally Soufrière on the right. Altogether, Gertsch devoted two years to the three works.

Together, they evoke the eternal cycle of life in both humanity and nature – just as it exists in the tropical vegetation of Guadeloupe. There are no seasons there. Everything grows, fades and grows again, all at the same time, in a continuous cycle of renewal. This is reflected in the red-flowering bromeliad in the left-hand painting, and in the ferns and mangroves of the swampy rainforest undergrowth at the foot of the volcano, Soufrière, in the painting on the right. Everywhere, nature remains wild and untouched.

With this triptych, Gertsch expresses a vision of the world that runs through all of his later work, placing nature at its centre. For Gertsch himself, however, his wife was the centre of his life.

'Just as Sophia Tolstaya read and critiqued her husband’s work every day, Maria is the unfailingly reliable judge of my work. That gives me confidence.'

The couple were married for almost sixty years. This triptych is therefore also a celebration of their lifelong partnership and devotion.