jenseits des sichtbaren - Die Bilderwelt von Michael Triegel
In the organizer's words:
Michael Triegel (*1968, Erfurt) is one of the most important contemporary artists. His works - from impressive altarpieces and portraits to still lifes and landscape watercolors - combine a masterful painting technique with an intensive examination of art history. Inspired by the formal world of the Italian Renaissance, Mannerism and Spanish Baroque, Triegel creates pictorial worlds in which he takes up, recombines and reinterprets set pieces from ancient mythology, biblical salvation history and the cultural-historical repertoire. Using the old master glazing technique in combination with highly topical content, Triegel creates pictorial worlds that are both timeless and surprising: "My game consists precisely in asserting the old master at first glance - and then, as far as possible, removing the ground from this first impression".
The Aachen exhibition presents the full range of Triegel's expressive diversity: from large-format works from the 1990s to his latest work Young Man from Procida (2025), which combines medieval pictorial tradition, lived religious practice and contemporary portraiture. The show thus offers a unique opportunity to experience the multifaceted work of this important contemporary painter. It demonstrates not only his masterful technique, but also his ability to depict complex subjects in a way that is traditional yet provocative.
Highlights of the exhibition include his portrait of Pope Benedict XVI (2010) and the much-discussed design for the central panel of the Cranach Altarpiece in Naumburg Cathedral (2022).
Sublime and morbid beauty
Triegel's watercolors of Italian and British landscapes are in the tradition of artists ranging from Dürer to Turner. His still lifes play with the formal charm of shimmering surfaces and morbid elements. At the same time, the motifs are also enriched in terms of content, so that they refer from the visible to an invisible level of interpretation and inspire reflection on the transience of life and beauty.
Michael Triegel in the "Salon" of the Aachener
With its rich collection of European art - from late Gothic sculptures to Flemish and Spanish Baroque masters - the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum provides the perfect setting for Triegel's dialog between tradition and modernity. The museum invites visitors to discover the collection and a fascinating chamber of art and curiosities in the historical ambience of a magnificent city palace.
An accompanying catalog will be published by Hirmer Verlag.
Curatorial team
Till-Holger Borchert and Wibke Vera Birth
Supporting program for the exhibition
The extensive program with guided tours, family offers and workshops can be found in the flyer (see download link on the right). We would particularly like to draw your attention to these events:
Curator tours
Sun 09.03., 15.00 hrs | Tue 22.04., 11.00 hrs | Sat 14.06., 11.00 hrs with Wibke Birth Thu 08.05., 15.00 hrs with Till-Holger Borchert
Lecture
Fri 23.05., 18.00 lecture by Alysée Le Druillenec, doctoral candidate at the Université Paris, Panthéon-Sorbonne and the Université Catholique de Louvain
Artist talk
Wed 28.05., 18.00, Michael Triegel in conversation with Wibke Birth and Till-Holger Borchert
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