13 Attempts to Become a Rooster - 11

The series "13 Attempts to Become a Rooster" dates back to the years 1977/78.

The series may be considered a surreal Curriculum Vitae.

The scene in Image Eleven takes place at a beach; the hills on the left in the background might be alluding to the Gulf of Manfredonia (Apulia), Wolfgang Lettl’s second home from the seventies onwards.
The rooster's body is made of car tires. A figure posing as a nude model is sitting on a wooden crate, severed shark heads are lying scattered on the ground.

A new era has dawned, the dangers of war are over, that might be a possible interpretation of the severed shark heads. The rooster's head lets out a pained cry, in the process of which its maggot-like body transforms into car tires. The nude model sitting on a wooden crate observes the rooster's metamorphosis. Wolfgang Lettl becomes a surrealist.

In 1949 Wolfgang Lettl marries his Franziska who will become his model, his muse and his patron.

Referring to his painting "Venere Sipontina " (1987), he raved about her:
"Having your own wife for a model is ideal, she is always available, and if something is missing in a painting, you can always have your wife lying there, she always looks good. With time you get to know her by heart, so you don’t need a model at all anymore, or very rarely for some detail. Clothespins, too, are always available to me, but although they have beautiful colours and lie still so nicely, they cannot compete with my Venus."

From Franziska’s perspective it sounds like this:
"I met Wolfgang Lettl in 1945. It was love at first, second and third sight. In 1999 we celebrated our golden wedding anniversay. I continue to be his favorite model, although he has committed me to memory long ago. Since he cannot paint my intelligence, he quite often simply omits the head. Posing in paradise is a lot of fun; every once in a while an admiral comes to see me there and rests on my bosom."