Schaller has an ongoing interest in the accidental marks people leave behind, and what they can say about that absent presence. His Disportraits focused on early astronaut suits, Leiermann on Venetian mirrors, Purple Desk on the vacant workspaces of Cardinals at the Vatican, and Werkbildnis on the empty studios of architects and photographers. As he puts it, the palettes represent the “paint before the painting.” On them are the phantoms of brush movement and mixed colors reflecting the hand of the artist, poised right before touching..." http://beautifuldecay.com/2015/05/12/matthias-schaller-photographs-palettes-monet-famous-artists/ "Since 2007 photographer Matthias Schaller has photographed raw, abstract paintings. The paintings however are not found on canvas, but rather smeared onto the tools used to craft each work of art—the palettes. His series, Das Meisterstück (The Masterpiece), claims these behind-the-scene objects as portraits of the artist, while also giving a direct insight into the detailed techniques performed by each painter. Schaller was first inspired to begin his photographic collection during a visit to Cy Twombly’s studio. During the visit he stumbled upon the artist’s palette, which he discovered to be an accurate reflection of the artist’s paintings. Encouraged to further discover the similarities between palette and painting, Schaller has gone on to photograph over 200 of these historic portraits. His search has led him to collect palettes from all across Europe and the United States, finding the objects in major museums and private foundations and in the custody of artists’ relatives and collectors. ... Schaller’s practice focuses on non-traditional portraits, which he considers “indirect portraits.” Other subject matter has included children’s rooms in Naples, Italy, 150 Italian opera houses, astronaut suits, and early punk vinyls. (via Hyperallergic)" http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/05/paint-palette-portraits-matthias-schaller/ undefined

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