MONA LISA
By Peter Malutzki
Flörsheim, Main, Germany: Peter Malutzki, 2022. Edition of 30.

23.8/16.8 cm; 34 pages. Booklet structure. Hand-set song text in Futura Condensed and printed letterpress. Images printed digitally. Numbered and signed by the artist.

Peter Malutzki: "'Mona Lisa was composed by Jay Livingston and Raymond B. Evans for the 1949 film ‘Captain Carey’, U.S.A. But it was the cover version by Nat King Cole who made the song really popular in 1950.

"The pictures of the Louvre visitors were taken from the internet and printed digitally. I cut the Mona Lisa pictures out of their photo frames."

This painting by Leonardo da Vinci has been on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797. It is probably one of the best known pieces of art in the world. It has been integral to book plots, an object of parody, and certainly viewed by thousands. In this piece by Peter Malutzki he marries the song words with the crowds milling around the Louvre to catch a glimpse of the smile “Are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?”
$200