CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 9/6/2013

Elizabeth Peyton

"What Wondrous Thing Do I See… Lohengrin, Jonas Kaufmann" (2005) is reproduced from Elizabeth Peyton: Here She Comes Now, published by Walther König. Produced for an exhibition in Baden-Baden, Germany, the book collects portraits of Peyton's performer-muses — ranging from opera stars like Kaufmann (pictured) to rock stars like David Bowie, Kurt Cobain and Jarvis Cocker — alongside the original source photographs that inspired them. In an interview with Dodie Kazanjian, Peyton says of Kaufmann, "I was completely unaware of him until I saw him on stage (as Siegmund) in Die Walküre at the Met. I had no idea who he was. He made the role so alive. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen to him. Even though I liked the idea of opera, I'd never seen anything that I connected to that way. There was something about his ability to act. Emotionally, he was giant. The way he conveyed the feeling of what was happening, and his love for Sieglinde. We always want to be moved like that. He gives us access to feelings we wouldn't have otherwise."