When is the exhibition opening?

The opening will take place on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, at 7:00 PM.

Where will the exhibition be opened?

The venue is the Landesmuseum Mainz at Große Bleiche 49–51, 55116 Mainz.

What is the admission fee for the exhibition opening?

Admission to the exhibition opening is free.

Will Friedemann Hahn be present at the opening?

Yes, according to the official exhibition information, Friedemann Hahn is expected to be personally present at the opening.

How long will the exhibition be on display?

The special exhibition will be on view from November 19, 2026, to February 21, 2027, at the Landesmuseum Mainz.

What themes are at the center?

The focus is on Friedemann Hahn's painterly engagement with Vincent van Gogh, the reworking of van Gogh motifs, the artist myth, and the connection of painting, film, and art history.

Revisiting Van Gogh: Friedemann Hahn's Colorful Dialogue at the Landesmuseum Mainz

Name: Exhibition Opening: Work in Progress. Life for a Masterpiece
Start: 2026-11-18T19:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-18T21:00:00+01:00
Location: Landesmuseum Mainz

When Vincent van Gogh Becomes the Open Picture Space

The Landesmuseum Mainz will open the special exhibition Work in Progress. Life for a Masterpiece – Friedemann Hahn Sees Vincent van Gogh on November 18, 2026. The painter Friedemann Hahn will be personally present at the opening at 7:00 PM. Admission to the event is free.

A Painterly Dialogue with Vincent van Gogh

The focus of the exhibition is Friedemann Hahn's intense engagement with the work and personality of the artist Vincent van Gogh. Hahn repaints and deconstructs van Gogh's motifs in a deliberately multi-layered abstraction process. From familiar pictorial signs, new compositions emerge, where color, form, and memory enter into tension with each other.

Color Frenzy, Overpainting, and Art History

The paintings combine sensual color effects with art historical reflection. Van Gogh's repertoire of motifs forms a framework that Hahn quotes, shifts, and reinterprets. The examination of the works leads from the immediate exhibition atmosphere to the question of how artistic identity is formed and changes over generations.

The Artist Myth as a Pictorial Motif

Another focus is on the traditional myth of the failed and socially disgraced artist. Hahn engages with the idea especially shaped by the film adaptation Lust for Life from 1956 featuring Kirk Douglas. Self-taken film stills from this classic repeatedly served as a starting point for the cinema-enthusiastic painter's works.

Friedemann Hahn and Painting

Friedemann Hahn was a professor of painting at the Mainz Academy of Fine Arts of Johannes Gutenberg University for over 20 years. His exhibition practice combines figurative allusions, cinematic image sources, and an open painterly dramaturgy. This creates an art experience that not only repeats van Gogh's popular imagery but questions it critically and transforms it into contemporary painting.

Conclusion: An Exhibition Between Icon and Present

The exhibition opening promises an aesthetic experience between color frenzy, memory, and art historical analysis. Art enthusiasts will experience how Friedemann Hahn transforms van Gogh's imagery into an independent work-in-progress process. Those who want to reconsider painting, artist biographies, and the impact of great art icons should not miss this evening at the Landesmuseum Mainz.