In 1990 Struth was approached by Dieter Schwarz, director of
the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, near Zürich, to see if he was interested
in making photographs for patients’ rooms in the new
wing of the Spital am Lindberg, a private hospital in the area.
Following an introductory visit, Struth agreed to take on the
commission. Although the hospital team had imagined Struth
might make street photographs, he decided to concentrate
on those subjects patients might be ‘missing’: images of local
landscapes and flowers with an intense colour. “In the hospital,
the body is in a heightened condition, even in a state of alarm.
This led me to choose an approach where one particular detail
of each flower would be highlighted, as an analogy to the condition
of illness in which one part of the body that we are usually
not so aware of becomes the centre of attention.”
The landscapes Struth photographed were all made in the area around Winterthur, including views of the Thur Valley, nearby vineyards and farmland as well as the hospital gardens. Many of the plants and flowers he photographed were also found in the immediate vicinity of the hospital and in a garden on the grounds of the Oskar Reinhart collection in Winterthur. He also made several ‘flower portraits’ in the garden of his friends Ingo Hartmann and Hannah Erdrich-Hartmann in Düsseldorf, including clematis, tulips, roses, cherry blossom and dandelions. They represent a familiar and ‘domesticated’ view of nature.
The landscapes Struth photographed were all made in the area around Winterthur, including views of the Thur Valley, nearby vineyards and farmland as well as the hospital gardens. Many of the plants and flowers he photographed were also found in the immediate vicinity of the hospital and in a garden on the grounds of the Oskar Reinhart collection in Winterthur. He also made several ‘flower portraits’ in the garden of his friends Ingo Hartmann and Hannah Erdrich-Hartmann in Düsseldorf, including clematis, tulips, roses, cherry blossom and dandelions. They represent a familiar and ‘domesticated’ view of nature.
Struth recalls that the project opened up the possibility
of a different and more painterly approach to photography. He
experimented with partly out-of-focus or blurred images and
with a vibrant range of colour. The close-ups of cherry blossoms,
vines on a wall, clusters of sunflowers and photographs
inside woods and forests can be seen to point a way forward
to the more enveloping environments of New Pictures from
Paradise, as well as referencing Japanese prints and botanical
drawings.
In each of the 37 rooms of the hospital, Struth hung one landscape across from the patient’s bed and two photographs of plants and flowers behind it. Many of the Winterthur photos have travelled from their intended context to be included in exhibitions of Struth’s works. Dandelion Room, a book bringing together all the Winterthur work, was published in 2001.
In each of the 37 rooms of the hospital, Struth hung one landscape across from the patient’s bed and two photographs of plants and flowers behind it. Many of the Winterthur photos have travelled from their intended context to be included in exhibitions of Struth’s works. Dandelion Room, a book bringing together all the Winterthur work, was published in 2001.