Gábor Winkler-Nemes, *Menuhin 3*, 2017, ltd edition giclée print, 70x70cm

Gábor Winkler-Nemes captures the essence of genius musicians and composers such as Menuhin, Bartók, Richter, Gould, and Oistrakh. Their power is palpable even if you are not close to classical music, their personalities transcend the confines of the canvas.

A Hungarian artist, pianist, synesthet (he sees music as colour), and scholar of ancient languages and cultures. Nemes is also influenced by his experience with stained-glass making and digital film restoration.

Gábor Winkler-Nemes, *Menuhin*, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 80cm

It is difficult to reflect a person’s state of being - whether it be through words or paint - yet in Menuhin 3 and Menuhin (see above) Nemes captures Menuhin’s gentle spirit and his total surrender to the music he plays.

Yehudi Menuhin (b. 1916 New York - d. 1999 Berlin) is one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. A gentle and generous spirit and a perfectionist with respect to his art, Menuhin was a child prodigy who debuted at Carnegie Hall at age 11. At age 27 he commissioned a Sonata for Solo Violin from Bartók who later remarked "I did not think that music could be played like that until long after the composer was dead”.

Menuhin believed music to be at the core of the human experience, saying that “music lives and breathes to tell us who we are and what we face. It is a path between ourselves and the infinite.”

Gábor Winkler-Nemes, *Bartók 1*, 2017, watercolour on board, semi-glossy varnish, 32 x 32cm

Nemes’ Bartók 1 allows us an intimate look at Bartók’s enigmatic personality - intense, with a twinkle of humour in his eyes, yet deeply private beneath the initial veneer of approachability.

Béla Viktor János Bartók (b. 1881 Hungary - d. 1945 New York) is one of Hungary’s most important composers. A child prodigy, he played over 40 different piano pieces by age 5 and gave public recitals of his own compositions from age 11. His lifelong interest in folk music which he collected wherever he travelled, pioneered the field of ethnomusicology – the study of cultural, social, cognitive, and other dimensions of musical behavior.

Gábor Winkler-Nemes, *Richter 2*, 2017, ltd edition giclée print, 70x70cm

Nemes’ Richter 2 captures the inward gaze of a man looking back at a long life, judging it perhaps too harshly.

Sviatoslav Richter (b. 1915 Imperial Russia - d. 1997 Russian Federation) is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, with the broadest repertoire. Unlike many of classical music’s greats, Richter was mainly self-taught. He gave his first piano recital at the comparatively late age of 19 and did not start formal piano studies until 22 when his audition for the Moscow Conservatory was hailed as “genius”.

Intensely private and quiet, he generally refused interviews. Opening up towards the end of his life to Bruno Monsaingeon who produced Enigma, a documentary about Richter’s life (brilliant by the way, and available on Youtube), Richter confessed that despite his extraordinary career he did not like himself. He died just a few months after that interview.

Gábor Winkler-Nemes, *Monsaingeon*, 2017, watercolour on paper, 60x60cm

Nemes has equally adeptly captured the inner qualities of Bruno Monsaingeon (above) - at least as this extraordinary man had seemed to me, having met him on just a few occasions. Monsaingeon is a classical violinist, author and film director of award-winning documentaries about the legends of 20th century classical music, including Enigma about Sviatoslav Richter, discussed above. Monsaingeon is a friend and mentor to Winkler-Nemes whose work he loves and collects.

For Gábor Winkler-Nemes’ biography and other works, click here

For a PDF catalogue of his works click here

For queries, please email me at katrine@katrinelevin.com or DM me on FB/IG.

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