Madonna 2

The sheet music was printed more than a hundred years ago in Berlin by the publisher Adolf Kunz. «Die Finsterwalder Sänger» is a humorous song for home parlours, with ornate blue lettering and flourishes. Once it was sung at the piano on Sunday evenings.

Over this forgotten music appears Madonna. The star, the provocateur, the singer who turned pop culture upside down, in the legendary cone corset glowing copper-gold. She kneels before the music: arms raised, eyes closed, as if listening to a song that played long before her.

Between them unfolds a dialogue of two eras: a modest Berlin tune and the queen of the stage, old paper and daring modernity. One music continues the other.

Ink, gold and white on antique sheet music, 25 × 35 cm, 2019. Signed original, one of a kind.