Georg Meistermann was a student at Düsseldorf’s Art Academy when it was forced to toe the Nazi line in 1933. However, Meistermann did not want to fit in. He had to leave the Academy and from that day on was only allowed a ration of 1 square metre of canvas per year from the Reich Chamber of Culture - and no paints at all. Living in inner exile, he taught himself, used alternative painting materials like shoe polish and continued producing his art despite the adverse circumstances. The Gestapo exerted pressure on him during visits to his studio and made clear that they saw his work as “degenerate art”, which would not be exhibited, photographed or sold.

How happy must the young painter have been in 1940 when he unexpectedly received a larger piece of canvas. With care he chose the theme by asking himself the question: “What is a painter in this world, in a nation which he opposes?” (Calleen/Jessewitsch, Meistermann, 2011, p. 153). The answer to this question was the self-portrait Der Maler (The Painter). It is an important work in which Meistermann deals with inner exile and his individual position and/or purpose. In it he wears the colours of the Mary, Mother of God (red/blue) and holds a plumb-line as well as a paintbrush and a book, thus giving a central place to the objects that helped him at that time. His blind eyes observe and analyse the “exterior”, while the “interior” remains concealed. The mental prison is shown by the lines criss-crossing the entire painting.