Domenica Niehoff, Germany's most prominent prostitute, had died at the age of 63 years. On 12th February 2009, this was a news item in the Tagesschau program.
A few days later I saw a ❯ funeral procession
from my studio window in Hamburg. The cortege turned to her memory in the Herbertstrasse, in which she was once commercially active.
Photographer Guenter Zint, of whom there are impressive Domenica photographs, carried a painted portrait of her. Many celebrities lined up. In the procession, I noticed a gentleman dressed in white. I had never seen him before. On the following day, a photo of him appeared in the newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt on the subject of a funeral procession. 'You like him, or!' smirked my wife.
It took years until I saw him again.
Summer 2014. Unmistakable, there he sits, the dandy in white. What a bird of paradise. Like us, he had a late breakfast at lunchtime in front of the Café Liebling in St. Pauli. I did not dare to speak to him, but I watched him for a long time. In the evening I discovered a film about him on the media library of the North German Broadcasting NDR. Then I found his phone number on the net, called him, and we arranged to have dinner at the Cuneo of Franca, whom I had just portrayed. It was an interesting evening. I told him that painting is a great excuse to meet interesting or strange people. 'Not correct!' he replied. 'It's a reason!' I liked that.
The following day, when I wanted to do my photo sketches, it was raining in Hamburg. So, we went with our photo equipment to Heidi, our favorite hairdresser at the old cattle slaughterhouse, and built there in the salon the headlights. Heidi thought that was amusing and Goetz had a lot of patience with me.
Sometimes, as a painter, you brood over a portrait for a long time. In this case, it took more than ten years from the idea to the completion. Should anyone ask themselves what makes Goetz professional - Goetz Barner is jewelry designer in St. Pauli.
In the last days of completion, I heard music from the ❯ phonograph in the studio. Among others, I have listened to the following song.
Portrait Goetz Barner