Art
A Tribute to Petrus Schaesberg (19672008)
Petrus Schaesberg was an upright man, whose presence was defined by a gentle nobility and love of art. We met at a gathering at Dore Ashton’s house in the spring. A casual conversation that began as a satellite to the drink counter and food table stretched into an hour or more of art-focused gleanings. Petrus spoke about his current projects—writing the catalogue raisonnés of Ed Ruscha’s drawings and, in a more nascent form, Anish Kapoor’s sculpture. While we were talking about Kapoor’s work, I became absorbed, embedding my language into the curve of a concave non-object and its physically metaphysical, self-reflective power. Petrus corroborated certain observations and expanded into interpretations. Moments like these—moments of resonance between two humans—matter. They embody the ever-elusive and always lingering present. Speaking of work such as Kapoor’s, with a visceral vibration, required us to speak in the same key. It was lovely. With Petrus, a new person to me, I felt a degree of intimacy. Like Kapoor’s work, Petrus struck me both as open and contained.
Stage two of our contact: the email dialogue. During our original conversation, I thought, wouldn’t it be fantastic to listen to Kapoor discuss his own work, and so I asked, “Petrus, would you consider doing an interview for the Rail?” “Yes,” he replied. We emailed back and forth, and he spoke to Kapoor about my proposal. Kapoor was willing, but busy preparing for an upcoming show at Gladstone gallery. Time happened, loose ends dangled, email dialogues pittered away, and the interview never came to be. Five months later, I hear the news and feel sunk.
Who was Petrus? Born in Germany in 1967, he earned his Ph. D., summa cum laude, at Munich’s Institute of Art History, Ludwig Maximilian University. He taught at the Institute of Art History at Munich University. In 2005, he began teaching art history as an adjunct professor at Columbia University, but was not teaching this semester. His book, Das Aufgehobene Bild, which discussed collage as a mode of painting, from Pablo Picasso to Richard Prince—was published in 2007, and his Louis Bourgeois: The Secret of Cells was published in 2008. Many essays and an exhibition of his photographs fill his list of accomplishments. On behalf of The Brooklyn Rail, I send our warm condolences to his family and friends.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

A Tribute to Brian ODoherty
Edited by Brenda Moore-McCannMAY 2023 | In Memoriam
A Tribute to Brian ODoherty, edited by Brenda Moore-McCann

Arcmanoro Niles: You Know I used to Love You but Now I Dont Think I Can: There Aint No Right Way to Say Goodbye Again
By Tennae MakiDEC 22–JAN 23 | ArtSeen
Arcmanoro Niles begins each work of art with a problem he wants to solve. His skill as a painter is technical, his intention deeply personal. In his exhibition, You Know I Used to Love You but Now I Dont Think I Can: There Aint No Right Way to Say Goodbye Again, he presents his ongoing investigation into what might seem like a forgone question: how can one articulate feeling in place of meaning?
Lyle Ashton Harris: Our first and last love
By Leah Triplett HarringtonAPRIL 2023 | ArtSeen
Lyle Ashton Harris: Our first and last love presents thirty-five years of the artists work, which often veers into collage, installation, and performance in an exhibition that is as much a cumulative self-portrait as it is something of a mid-career retrospective.
To Gina With Love
By Sam KahnSEPT 2022 | Theater
Sam Kahn pens a love letter to playwright Gina Gionfriddo, charting her career, inner world of her plays, and the influence she had over his life and writing.