Los Angeles in January, 2:02pm

Introduction

Before embarking on one of his journeys, artist Ralph Hasenohr selects a particular filter with which he captures his subjects. He uses the filter as an ambient framing through which to view his journey. What immediately strikes the viewer about his portrait of Pierre Koenig’s famous Stahl House in southern Los Angeles is its uncommonly rich and luscious colouring. Sky and pool, especially the shadowed part of the water, form a powerfully charged counterpoint, and thus create a dramatically dark chromatic background texture; this is, in turn, countered by the more luminous nuances of gently breaking waves and glistening horizon above the perimeter of the terrace. The highly taught compositional frame gives rise to a magnificent ambience in which our aspirational visions find perfect correspondence in the villa’s architectural forms and that most celebrated of outlooks over LA, towards the distant horizon.


In 1959, sportsman C. H. "Buck" Stahl commissioned young, up-and-coming architect Pierre Koenig to build on his property in the Hollywood Hills. Due to its hillside location on, the property had been previously considered undevelopable. Thanks to Koenig's innovative construction methods, however, the house not only met the demands of its surroundings, but quickly became a landmark in an architectural movement that caused a stir in California and beyond. Today, the Stahl House is a revered fixture. In the 60s, the house was photographed by Julius Shulman, who helped establish it as a focal point of modern Los Angeles. Later, numerous film producers made use of the site to shoot scenes against an impressive backdrop. The Stahl House is an integral part of architectural, photographic, and cinematic history; and its builder, Pierre Koenig, has been declared the father of California modernism.


Ralph Hasenohr is a particularly versatile artist whose creativity cannot be pinned down to one form of art. He works as a photographer and short film maker, as well as a designer, painter, and writer. He spent many years as a creative in international advertising agencies and gained invaluable experience through dealing with a variety of media.