Angela Merkel unveils official portrait with a surprising absence: her signature hand gesture
Five years after leaving office, Angela Merkel finally unveiled her official chancellor portrait, painted by a previously unknown 28-year-old artist, and conspicuously missing the 'Merkel-Raute' hand gesture she was famous for.
A portrait five years in the making
After nearly five years out of power, Angela Merkel revealed her official state portrait on Tuesday at Berlin's Bode Museum. The former German chancellor chose Jérémie Queyras, a 28-year-old Franco-German painter with almost no public profile, to capture her likeness. Merkel herself addressed the unusual delay with a touch of self-deprecation.
It's a bit strange when one slowly becomes history. And so I've ended up hanging.
Symbolism in royal blue and gold
Standing in a royal blue blazer against a honey-toned background, one hand resting on a surface and the other hanging loose, Merkel's posture breaks with precedent, all her predecessors were depicted seated. Small attributes, an amber necklace, a file folder and a paperweight, replace traditional insignia of power. Art historian Nikolaus Bernau noted the deliberate, conservative composition.
It is a somewhat conservative picture. The person looks you straight in the face. Ms Merkel supports herself slightly, but radiates authority and self-confidence.
The portrait's most talked-about detail is what it omits: the diamond-shaped 'Merkel-Raute' hand gesture that became a visual shorthand for her 16-year chancellorship. Instead, her hands are relaxed, inviting a different reading.
A 28-year-old unknown takes on a giant
Jérémie Queyras, born in Paris with German and Canadian roots, came to Merkel's attention after a collaborator bought some of his works in Braunschweig. He wrote to the former chancellor, landed an interview and was commissioned after more than twenty sittings, first in Merkel's weekend home in Templin. The artist described the challenge of painting a face seen everywhere.
How do you paint a person whose face everyone already knows well, who has been photographed thousands of times? I think we were both in agreement that this picture should be different and develop slowly.
Merkel paid for the portrait out of her own pocket, retaining private ownership, which means she could withdraw it from the Chancellery gallery if a future government displeased her.
Generational nostalgia and critical reception
Political scientist Eva Hausteiner saw the portrait as very much 'on brand' for Merkel: a mix of simplicity, clarity and quiet confidence. The choice of a Gen Z artist also taps into a wave of nostalgia among young Germans who grew up with Merkel as their only chancellor and now romanticise her era as one of stability and security.
It is a restrained but self-confident staging. Very fitting for her previous political style.
Not all reactions were enthusiastic. Elke Buhr, editor-in-chief of art magazine Monopol, admitted her first impression was 'a little underwhelming', though she praised the eyes.
From museum to chancellery gallery
The portrait will hang in the Bode Museum for three months before moving in October to the federal Chancellery, where it joins seven other chancellor portraits on a grey concrete wall. Each painting reflects its era, from Jörg Immendorff's ironic, ape-surrounded Schröder to Bernhard Heisig's border-crossing Helmut Schmidt. Now Merkel's picture, larger than Schröder's and standing defiantly upright, adds a new chapter.
