And I recognise him,
I know him, his gaze, these stairs, this scene…
©LIFE 1951, Richard Goetz, photo by Nina Leen
In 1996, I made 'la boîte'.
This small artwork has accompanied me ever since and has proven indispensable. 'La boîte' holds a small portrait that does not reveal itself and is accompanied by a quote from 'Le rouge et le noir', written by Stendhal in 1830.
Looking up again at Richard Goetz, images and memories merge,
vous ici trouvez….
un portrait….
c'est mon secret.
For my 'musée privé (à emporter)', I built a museum room especially for this secret portrait, 'la chambre introuvable'. It is a long, dark staircase between two high walls, leading up to a landing; a remake of 'la boîte' on the doorless wall.
And then it strikes me. I only recently came across this picture of Goetz, never seen it before.
Could it be him?
The secret portrait at the top of the staircase?
Richard Goetz, artist, art dealer, and Géricault connaisseur and collector, was photographed on his staircase in 1951 by Nina Leen. His private museum is located at the top of his staircase in a room secret to me, and he glances cordially at me from his kingdom.