The Austrian artist Thomas Sturm travelled to the major European museums and, as any other tourist, viewed and photographed the paintings of the Old Masters. Once back in his studio in Berlin, however, the photographs underwent a curious transformation. What happened to them in the hands of the artist? What can now be seen in the paintings, seen in a new way, seen differently, perhaps: not be seen anymore? But why the Old Masters – again? And anyway: When is an artist old?

Thomas Sturm studied art in Linz and Berlin. His works have been exhibited in several locations on different continents and are represented in both private and public collections. Following scholarships which took him to Stuttgart (Akademie Schloss Solitude), Cologne and Wiesbaden and after extended stays in Los Angeles and Brazil, he now resides in Charlottenburg.

Wolfgang Ullrich is a freelance writer and scholar of culture. Among his chief areas of interest is art that interprets, transforms and complements art. He currently resides in Leipzig.

Christoph Narholz is a writer and teaches at the Institute of Theater Studies at the University of Munich. A friend of Sturm since youth, his article gives a personal account of the artist’s actionist interventions on the canon of European painting.