LIFE Photo Collection
Beethoven's iconic visage and his timeless music have been the inspiration for artists through the centuries. Scroll on to see Ludwig van Beethoven in art...
J.C. Stieler's portrait of the composer is perhaps the best-known image of his face. This 1901 engraving after the painting shows the heavy brow, the look of concentration and deep thought, that Stieler captured.
Portrait de Ludwig van Beethoven (1905) by Franz von StuckPhilharmonie de Paris
The beginning of the 20th Century was the peak time for the 'cult of Beethoven'. His genius was being roundly and widely celebrated amongst artists, sculptors, and other musicians. This 1905 portrait by Franz Stuck is a potent, idealized version of the composer.
Beethoven's later work has been called 'heroic' in style, and Stuck certainly wants to lionize the man. The composer here fixes the viewer with an unwavering stare, like he's looking into our souls. It's almost enough to make you join the cult!
Beethoven (2011) by Germán Montalvo.Fundación Universidad de las Américas Puebla
But the composer's appeal isn't just confined to 1900s Europe. Mexican artist Germán Montalvo created this playful modern portrait in 2011.
I wonder what he's listening to?
Beethoven Frieze: "The Hostile Powers" (Panel 5, short wall) (1901) by Gustav KlimtSecession
But perhaps most strange and wonderful of all the artistic responses to Beethoven's work did come from the early 1900s in Europe, by the hand of Gustav Klimt. Painted for the 1902 Viennese Secession, Klimt's frieze devotes four whole walls to the composer's genius.
Based on Wagner’s interpretation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Klimt created a narrative to celebrate "struggle on the most magnificent level by the soul striving for joy". The frieze follows a tortuous symbolic journey to eventually find happiness in Poetry and art.
LIFE Photo Collection
