A new exhibition at the Beethoven House in Bonn examines Andy Warhol’s late artistic engagement with Ludwig van Beethoven. “Beethoven by Warhol,” on display until April 2027 at the composer’s birthplace, focuses on a 1987 silkscreen series that recast Beethoven’s familiar historical image through vivid colors and pop-art design.
Warhol’s Beethoven works were originally conceived as a commercial project for The Factory, his New York studio. The series was produced in a limited edition of 60 and was created only weeks before Warhol’s death on February 22, 1987, making it one of his final bodies of work, according to the supplied source.
The exhibition traces the development of the image through material gathered over three years by curators from the Beethoven House and Archive Bonn. Visitors can see drawings Warhol made while studying images of Beethoven in Bonn, along with print proofs showing how he tested different color combinations. An elaborately produced Beethoven print on canvas, held by an anonymous collector from the Rhineland, is also included.
Warhol examined several representations of the composer before basing his design on Joseph Karl Stieler’s 1820 portrait. Stieler’s painting had sought to convey both Beethoven’s appearance and his rebellious character. Warhol retained elements of the portrait’s graphic structure, altered its colors and placed handwritten musical notation across the image. Instead of the “Credo” from the “Missa Solemnis,” used in Stieler’s portrait, Warhol selected music from the “Moonlight Sonata,” curator Silke Bettermann told DW.
The show also presents works connected to Warhol’s relationship with Germany, including a portrait of soccer goalkeeper Toni Schumacher, lent by Schumacher’s private collection. Bonn-based gallerist Hermann Wünsche helped bring Warhol to the Rhineland and played a role in the creation of several Germany-related works, including portraits of Chancellor Willy Brandt and Schumacher.
A collection of more than 50 record covers designed by Warhol is displayed for the first time at the Beethoven House. The selection ranges from a Mendelssohn recording with Vladimir Horowitz to covers for The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” and The Velvet Underground & Nico. Organizers describe the exhibition as a prelude to events marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death in March 2027. Wolfram Weimer, Germany’s state minister for culture and media and patron of the exhibition, called it an opening to the commemorative year.