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Jochen Klein
English, German
107 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1998
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November 12, 2025
Filled with peak excitment as I exchange this Jochen Klein catalogue with a derisory, fifteen euro worth, credit card rub. I had been looking for it. After reading Krebber’s review Three Posthumous Catalogues, I couldn’t get over his excitement for the white margin left on the bottom of the copy’s front cover (potential evidence of the publisher’s strong wish to use this specific painting as the first impression, while having it fitting a pre-established format). This white line/ plate/ plinth is, I would say, 70% responsible for my purchase as I already had access to a very complete catalogue of Klein’s oeuvre in the Beaux Art library before.
Jochen Klein is an easy like. Romantic compositions in dreamy palettes, Richard Hamilton call-backs for a simpler way at work, I am the public. These not-so-disguised references to painter peers make me lose it, and did so this summer in front of Frédéric Bazille’s Jeune homme nu couché sur l’herbe when I encountered it in the painter's hometown of Montpellier. Frédéric Bazille, like Klein, met an extremely early death at only 28 years old while serving France in the war against Prussia, Jochen died at 30 years old from AIDS-related pneumonia. No career is ever too long for artists we crave, but the never ending loop of Klein’s 10 most famous works almost forces my focus on everything that isn’t there. I am not making up exclusive imaginary paintings in my head per se, but catch myself being drawn to his practice for the very reason that it was prematurely put to an end (this also being emphasized by Jochen’s quests for amateurship, scholar methodologies, and ultimately, beginnings). I haven’t (yet?) read this anywhere, maybe the Bazille/Klein comparison is a bit too obvious? Under the ‘jeune homme’ in the lower third of the painting lies what I believe could be a bathing towel, or a pond maybe. An unfilled-in portion of the canvas partly revealing the first draft of a previous attempt.
As I continue my way to the two posthumous catalogues I have left to own from Krebber’s curated trilogy (Ingeborg Gabriel 1998 and Ull Hohn 1996), I think of how infused he made it all for me. I now also understand his ‘envy’ regarding this space-filled rectangle, and will most definitely be coming back to it. One could argue Jochen’s catalogue left space for the possible, it also, like Frédéric before him, provided a pedestal for the tireds, those asleep early, and for some of my favorite paintings of all time.
Jochen Klein is an easy like. Romantic compositions in dreamy palettes, Richard Hamilton call-backs for a simpler way at work, I am the public. These not-so-disguised references to painter peers make me lose it, and did so this summer in front of Frédéric Bazille’s Jeune homme nu couché sur l’herbe when I encountered it in the painter's hometown of Montpellier. Frédéric Bazille, like Klein, met an extremely early death at only 28 years old while serving France in the war against Prussia, Jochen died at 30 years old from AIDS-related pneumonia. No career is ever too long for artists we crave, but the never ending loop of Klein’s 10 most famous works almost forces my focus on everything that isn’t there. I am not making up exclusive imaginary paintings in my head per se, but catch myself being drawn to his practice for the very reason that it was prematurely put to an end (this also being emphasized by Jochen’s quests for amateurship, scholar methodologies, and ultimately, beginnings). I haven’t (yet?) read this anywhere, maybe the Bazille/Klein comparison is a bit too obvious? Under the ‘jeune homme’ in the lower third of the painting lies what I believe could be a bathing towel, or a pond maybe. An unfilled-in portion of the canvas partly revealing the first draft of a previous attempt.
As I continue my way to the two posthumous catalogues I have left to own from Krebber’s curated trilogy (Ingeborg Gabriel 1998 and Ull Hohn 1996), I think of how infused he made it all for me. I now also understand his ‘envy’ regarding this space-filled rectangle, and will most definitely be coming back to it. One could argue Jochen’s catalogue left space for the possible, it also, like Frédéric before him, provided a pedestal for the tireds, those asleep early, and for some of my favorite paintings of all time.
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