Portraits
The human being as an unmistakable counterpart, each depiction a personal interpretation.
View Gallery →
Traditional panel painting · contemporary
QuincePortraits
Portraits of fruit focusing on beauty, transience and unmistakable individual presence.
View GalleryLeitsatz des Body of Works
Das Nacheinander verdichtet sich zum Augenblick. The past becomes present. Entferntes tritt in Beziehung. The surface opens into space. The image is matter beginning to dream.Read the Artistic Manifesto ↓
Selected Works
Vom Gegenstand
zum Gegenüber
The quince does not appear as an interchangeable still-life motif. Each fruit bears marks, ripeness, posture and history — and becomes a distinct presence in the image.
All images are protected by copyright. Any use requires explicit permission.
Body of Work
More
Work Groups
People, animals, surreal pictorial worlds and Comic Cubism — different manifestations of an animated reality.
Animal Portraits
Animals as individual beings with their own posture, history and physical presence.
View Gallery →
Comic Cubism
Figuration, surface and space condense into an independent narrative visual language.
View Gallery →Artistic Core
Das Nacheinander verdichtet sich zum Augenblick. The past becomes present. Entferntes tritt in Beziehung. The surface opens into space. The image is matter beginning to dream.
Visible reality may not be the final layer, but the appearance of a deeper, creative consciousness.
In painting, the material surface transforms into space, body and presence. A fruit ceases to be merely an object and confronts us as an encounter.
Materials and Construction
A Slow
Painting
My painting develops through the interaction of support, colour, light and surface. Egg tempera is a central focus, particularly within the Quince Portraits. Other works are made in acrylic, oil or combined techniques. The choice of material follows the pictorial idea and the intended effect of colour, surface and space.
Panel Support
Wood panel, sizing and a carefully polished chalk ground create a calm and durable painting surface.
Egg Tempera
Deckende und transparente Schichten erzeugen klare Farbigkeit, Tiefe und eine fein kontrollierte Modellierung.
Light & Surface
Shadows, glazes, leaf veins, blemishes and marks combine into a quiet portrait.
Studio & Seminar
The Technique Behind the Quince Paintings
Studio seminars on traditional panels, chalk grounds, egg tempera, glazes and image analysis for professional and advanced artists.
Enquire About a SeminarJournal
News
New works, exhibitions, seminars and texts from the studio.
New Portraits of Quince in the Making
New Quince Portraits – Traditional Panel Painting in a Contemporary Form With my new quince portraits, I continue the tradition of classical panel painting while bringing […]
Diethard Sohn. “Quince Portraits”—Opening Remarks by Birgit Wiesenhütter, Art Historian (M.A.)
Leinfelden-Echterdingen Cultural Association, Inc.Altes Rathaus Musberg GalleryDiethard Sohn: Quince PortraitsOpening Remarks, September 13, 2025 Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to have the opportunity to […]
The Artist
Diethard Sohn
Since 2014, quinces have formed a central focus of Diethard Sohn’s independent painting. Inspired by the Old Masters, he combines traditional techniques with a contemporary conception of the image. His works investigate beauty, transience and individuality — and the possibility of an animated reality.
Contact
Studio Visit,
Work or Seminar?
Send a MessageYou can book an appointment for a studio visit here.
Book an Appointment