Portraits
The human figure not as mere representation, but as an unmistakable presence. Resemblance is a point of departure, not an end in itself.
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Traditional panel painting · contemporary
QuincePortraits
Since 2014, quinces have formed a central focus of my painting. What interests me is not the fruit as a conventional still-life motif, but its unmistakable presence: its form, surface, marks, ripeness and transformation. The longer it is observed, the less self-evident it becomes.
View GalleryGuiding Lines
Sequence condenses into a moment. The past becomes present. What is distant comes into relation. The surface opens into space. The image is matter beginning to dream.Read the Approach ↓
Selected Works
From Object
to Presence
The quince is not an interchangeable motif. Each fruit has its own form, marks, ripeness and history. Through the process of painting, the observed object becomes a pictorial reality in its own right.
All images are protected by copyright. Any use requires explicit permission.
Body of Work
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Work Groups
The individual bodies of work follow different pictorial ideas and painterly processes. What connects them is the question of how something visible can acquire a presence of its own within an image.
Animal Portraits
Animals as individual beings with their own physical presence, posture and history.
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Darksider
Figurative pictorial spaces between perception, memory, dream and inner reality.
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Comic Cubism
Figuration, surface, space and narrative combine to form an independent visual language.
View Gallery →Artistic Core
Sequence condenses into a moment. The past becomes present. What is distant comes into relation. The surface opens into space. The image is matter beginning to dream.
I paint out of a suspicion that reality reaches deeper than its visible surface.
This depth does not lie behind the visible. It reveals itself within it – through a way of seeing that lingers. Painting is therefore not simply the translation of an idea that already exists.
Materials and Construction
A Slow
Painting
My paintings develop through the interaction of support, colour, light and surface. Egg tempera and traditional panel painting form an important part of my practice, particularly within the Quince Portraits. Other works are made in acrylic, oil or combined techniques. The material follows the painting.
Panel Support
Wooden panels, sizing and a carefully prepared and polished ground create a calm and precise painting surface.
Egg Tempera
Opaque and transparent layers provide clarity, depth and finely controlled modelling of form and light.
Light & Surface
Light is not created through light-dark contrast alone. It develops through the layers of colour and their material surface.
Studio Visits
View Works at the Studio
Selected available and current works can be viewed at the studio in Stuttgart by prior appointment.
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News
New works, exhibitions, texts and selected projects from the studio.
Featured News
Diethard Sohn. “Quince Portraits”—Opening Remarks by Birgit Wiesenhütter, Art Historian (M.A.)
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to have the opportunity to introduce you to the artistic work of Diethard Sohn here at the Altes Rathaus Musberg Gallery and to discuss his quince portraits.
“Ich bin ein Berliner”
The quince painting MUS-07-180180-A-2025, additional quince portraits, “Lucky Hermit” by Müller & Sohn, and other paintings—including some by ditArdo—are on their way to the Paul Löbe House, to the office of Member of Parliament Macit Karaahmetoğlu (SPD)
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 […]
The Artist
Diethard Sohn
Diethard Sohn is a visual artist living and working in Stuttgart, Germany. Since 2014, Quince Portraits have formed a central focus of his independent painting. Traditional painting techniques are combined with a contemporary exploration of object, perception, form, space and duration. Alongside the Quince Portraits, his work includes portraits, animal portraits, Darksider and Comic Cubism.
Contact
Works, Exhibitions
or Studio Visits
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