Matthias Lorenz Graf: 15 years of diploma as an academic illustrator

Artist Matthias Lorenz Graf completed his studies in painting at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in the summer semester 2008 in the master class of painting with the academic painter Univ-Prof. Wolfgang Herzig and then at Acad University. Joanna Kindle. Acted as a diploma supervisor ao. Prof. University. art. Heribert Just: In addition to the written part of the thesis, Graf created seven oil paintings for the graphic part of the work.

More about work

• The dimensions of the panels are 150 x 160 cm.
• It is painted in oil on canvas and jute.
• The paintings were created between 2007 and spring 2008 in Gräff’s former Waldviertel studio in St. Leonard am Hornerwald.
• It is the artist’s only seven-part cycle to date.

about the series

Matthias Lorenz Greif in the foreground:
“My diploma thesis is titled “Weltinnenschau-Weltinnenschau”, these two worlds carry the content of my interest as a person and as a painter, I find myself in these two worlds.

Looking at the world from the outside as an action in everyday consciousness, and looking at the world from the inside as an internal, spiritual action. I intend here, on the one hand, on historical and genealogical subjects, and on the other hand, on religious subjects. Historical Genealogy is a depiction of my own/ancestry experiences, the (De)Graeff family, ancestors and family relationships as well as historical figures without a visible genealogical link, but which fit thematically into the picture. Religious topics refer to my future. The two points—the origin and future of my psyche—show my degree thesis, and I as mediator between old and new,—Dyonisian and Apollonian.

Of course, in addition to the philosophical and genealogical assignment, it was important for me to satisfactorily solve creative problems. It was important to me to divide the image into different levels – foregrounds and backgrounds – to weave sparkling, narratively thoughtful scenarios into and with each other. This is to the official.

In terms of drawing, I tried to change the different materials, that is, the color of the skin, the curvature of the eyeball, the proportions of the human body, the statistics in the figures on the one hand, and the dynamics of the fighters in the excitement. interaction. In the end, it was also important for me to find (or invent) new color harmonies, not only for working with pure tube mixtures, but also for dealing with rare color mixtures across the palette. “