Gert Mathiesen used to time his annual visits to Denmark to correspond with the blooming of the anemones.
Gert, Hanne and Palle Mathiesen (Gert was the youngest), Esbjerg, Denmark, cerca 1954
One of the good things about dying is that your aging gets stopped dead in its tracks (no pun intended). Hard to believe that my late husband, Gert Mathiesen, would have been 70 years old today! In the words of Bob Dylan, he will always remain forever a young 62 in my mind...
People handle grief in different ways. My way of coping with his loss (and it has already been eight years) is to celebrate him and his art and by keeping him present in all of our hearts and minds. I dedicate this issue of my blog to him.
three things he loved
A suntanned Gert Mathiesen in front of a series of his linocuts.
Click here to read a wonderful essay about
Gert Mathiesen and his art.
It is hot off the press, written by Frank Matheis as part of his new Hammond Museum essay series entitled In Other Words.
Upon reading the essay, our daughter Morgan stated excitedly, "This is by far the best piece of writing I have seen on Gert--he really "got" him!"
In addition to his other excellent writings on artists and their art, Matheis' first love is music. An expert on the blues. Matheis has published over 600 music articles, produced an award winning radio blues documentary (that aired on three continents) and spent nearly a decade on the radio in New York/Connecticut hosting wild blues and roots shows. He has a new book out about the blues tradition in our nation's capital entitled Sweet Bitter Blues – Washington DC’s Homemade Blues, which he wrote in collaboration with the harmonica player Phil Wiggins.
Mathiesen in Berkeley, California 2012
Gert working on our Mexican bark paper animal pieces in his studio on East 64th Street
Gert had a band called The Black Witches.
Playing the drum set in a client’s home in the middle of an appointment to show art.
Sit back and enjoy this compilation of Gert's FAVORITE MUSIC by clicking all the links below. He always told me he wanted an American girlfriend so he could learn all the words to the songs he loved. Starting off as a young boy listening to Radio Luxembourg with the radio under his pillow, Gert acquired an eclectic taste in all types of music. Here are some of his favorites: Hotel California, which propelled him to drive across the country soon after arriving in New York to visit his brother and was probably his theme song in the early days. Bob Dylan was no doubt top of his list and it would really be hard to choose a particular album or song but if I had to, it might be the Time Out of Mind album and the song It's Not Dark Yet. John Prine defintely spoke to him and he got a kick out of the song In Spite of Ourselves. among many others. Of course, as a European of a certain age, he grew up with Leonard Cohen and absolutely loved him although he really liked Jennifer Warnes renditions of Cohen's songs on the album Famous Blue Raincoat best. He loved Johnny Cash, especially Ring of Fire and he loved Johnny's daughter Rosanne too, playing Tennessee Flat Top Box and other songs from the album King's Record Shop. He went crazy over The Travelling Wilburys when their record came out and he definitely had a special place in his heart for Tom Waits, especially Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You and Jersey Girl. He loved so many songs of Otis Redding and shifting gears, if you want to spend a leisurely morning listening to his favorite classical piece, here's Mozart's Jupiter Symphony. P.S. His mom always thought he would have made a great rock star...
Gert made al lot of music posters and close to forty theatre posters over the years.
Smørrebrød
Gratin Dauphinois
This column would not be complete without writing about the third most important thing in Gert's life after art and music (and his family)--he loved to eat. He ate a slim breakfast, if at all a croissant and a cup of tea. But it was up from there. Many of his favorite foods were comfort foods he grew up on in Esbjerg, Denmark and I include some of those recipes here: smørrebrød--black bread with his favorite toppings like leverpostej, gratin dauphinois, and his favorite midnight snack biksemad (the Danish version of leftovers, topped with an egg). He also liked more gourmet foods and loved to eat out although he never liked a restaurant with a stuffy atmosphere, preferring to sit at the bar. His favorite restaurants in New York were his beloved neighborhood Bistro 61 (now defunct) and probably top of the list for special lunches, Il Buco in downtown Manhattan. He also loved Picco Restaurant in Marin County, California.
And now finally, a few more random things he loved, always passionately: loafers, the ocean, swimming, rosé wine before it became fashionable, fishing, flowers, harbors, potatoes (we were married on the beach between two potato fields), Puerto Rico, old episodes of Ozzy Osbourne, history, Tuesdays (which was the day he dedicated solely to reading), the films Shawshank Redemption and Forrest Gump, and of course ceramics, printmaking and painting.
We were married in Bridgehampton, New York in 1992
Gert’s pride and joy—his children and grandchildren: Toran, Jonathan, Rocsi and Morgan Mathiesen
painting of the week
Self Portrait going grey in the time of Covid…
About The Author
New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her, check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.