Wolfgang Mattheuer Guten Tag 1975 |IA|

‘Guten Tag’ by Wolfgang Mattheuer was painted in 1975 and portrays an idealistic image of a family in a dream-like and precise world. This oil painting shows a lot of realism and yet it seems like it is without life. The people are coming straight towards the viewer with a motion to interact, however their facial colour and expression suggests they are frozen like sculptures. Within the middle ground you can see a fallen tree and an old woman destroying the atmosphere of this ‘dream’ as it shows something deteriorating and broken.

This painting was created midway through the cold war. Mattheuer was stuck in East Germany, which was part of the east bloc (also known as the communist bloc). The painting was commissioned for the Palace of the Republic (GDR parliament) in Berlin, which had to be politically correct. The painter was unable to publicly show his disapproval of the divide and the politics that were going on within his country. The artist had to use subtleties to get his points across. For example, the colour of the child’s clothing is red and yellow, like the communist flag which can suggest that he was trying to portray the indoctrination of the communist ideologies of children within the GDR, as freedom of speech and mind was prosecuted. Children grew up not realising what the wall in Berlin meant and were brought up to believe in socialism. Spies were everywhere, and no one could speak freely, and so children had no way of knowing the truth.

Also, within this piece the man is holding onto the woman, rather than the other way round which in a conservative family would not be the case. Usually, the woman leans on the man. He is controlling, maybe like the government controlling everyone in this way. Tightly, and without letting go.

Feel free to share your own interpretations and comments about this piece!

The Gab’ Eye