Against the wind, First Kiss - these are names of the paintings by Karel Gott. The singer catches in the oil paintings his feelings: “In the evening I sit down in front of the canvas and until the next morning, my hands call up a picture. Yes, I paint my sorrow, which oppress my soul. The paintings are mirrors of my character,” Karel Gott says and he tells about what he would like to represent by his paintings. And the artistic psychologist Dr. Martin Schuster provides his expressions to five of the paintings – without knowing that the author is Karel Gott.
WOMAN WITH MIRROR
Karel Gott: This young woman shows a mirror to an old man: Have a look! And you want something from me? Dr. Martin Schuster: The young woman is wearing a red, lustful dress. The color of her breast on the other hand seems cold and inapproachable. A clear symbol that she refuses the man in the mirror. A situation the painter has definitely experienced himself. Maybe he has problems with getting old. He needs to radiate youngness in his job.
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN
Karel Gott: The people gathered on the square represent the rock´n ´roll generation, which admires Beethoven – the classic is neverending. In the houses, the composer has lived: buildings on the left side are from Paris, on the right side from Vienna. Dr. Martin Schuster: The artists identifies himself – conscious or not – with Ludwig van Beethoven. In the same way as Beethoven did, he would also like to stick out of the crowd. To be admired by others, especially young people, satisfies him, but it´s also a sort of narcissistic development of his own importance and his own value. But despite of this, the author does not overrate himself – this means that he in the real life certainly enjoys big professional success.
SADE AND JAZZ
Karel Gott: The painting represents the jazz singer Sade with a saxophone player of her band, in the morning after an erotic night. He is training new pieces on the saxophone, she is lying on her bed, still exhausted after the demanding night. Dr. Martin Schuster: The painter sees lovers in women, not necessarily a wife. The man holds a cigarette in his hand and a saxophone as erotic instrument. The artist himself is surely a gourmet – he is not a sad child. If somebody chooses such colors, he has to have a positive attitude against sexuality.
CAFÉ BLEU
Karel Gott: I often like to sit in old cafés in Vienna, Paris or Berlin. Then I watch the guests. This couple knows each other so well, that there is nothing they can say anymore. This happens unfortunately quite often. Dark blue colors say that it´s already evening.. Dr. Martin Schuster: The woman has been painted bigger than the man, despite she sits more in the back. Our painter is fascinated by female bodies. He carries positive memories of (erotic) encounters with women. The artist is surely an amateur philosopher, who confronts the problem of time and looks for their solutions.
MUSICIAN IN STORM
Karel Gott: When I was travelling on the cruiser MS Europa, we made a stop in Scotland. While taking a walk through the landscape, I saw this motive. Colors of the sky, meadows and trees would not leave my head. Dr. Martin Schuster: The painting consist – according to the colors – of two parts: the back part is dark (a faraway storm), and the front part – the shining one. The man in the front goes against the wind. Music (a guitar as its symbol) evens his way. It could be a painter, who succeeded in going against the stream in his dynamics and thanks to his strong personality. He knows that otherwise he would lose the joy of life.
