Diplomatic World 67

THE ART OF LEO STOPFER
A ROMANCE BETWEEN
BALLET AND PAINTING
A LOOK AT THE PAINTINGS OF AUSTRIAN ARTIST
LEO STOPFER WHO CAPTURES ON HIS CANVAS-
ES THE BEST BALLET DANCERS OF OUR TIME
Depicting a dance is an almost impossible task.
How to catch a movement with a brush stroke that will inevitably
freeze on the canvas? How to hear music through a painting? For
centuries, artists have been trying to find answers to these questions.
The art of dance and, in particular, the magic art of classical
ballet has always attracted the special attention of artists.
Talking about ballet, it is impossible not to mention the paintings
of Edgar Degas or Pablo Picasso. This tradition is confidently
and consistently continued by Austrian contemporary artist Leo
Stopfer, widely acclaimed as the Painter of the Ballet-Stars.
Working in a realistic, but not in an impressionistic manner, Leo
Stopfer, however, did not avoid comparisons with Edgar Degas.
In contrast, the way he understands and reveals the theme of
ballet is very different from how the French master portrayed
dancers. The great impressionist was attracted by the possibility
of transferring space and forms in this space, plasticity, rhythm
and dynamics, most fully felt in dance. He portrayed young
ballerinas without embellishment, with some kind of sarcasm,
impartially.
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