Philipp Fröhlich

Taking Things Seriously

Philipp Fröhlich — Sun, 31 May 2026 23:01:00 +0000

A fellow painter saw this painting based on Sleeping Beauty in my studio while it was still little more than an underpainting and was particularly taken by it. I suspected he preferred this rougher state to the finished paintings, which probably seemed too polished to him. Months later we met again at an art fair […]

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Poppies

Philipp Fröhlich — Sun, 17 May 2026 23:15:00 +0000

I’ve only succeeded once in growing a few opium poppies in our little garden. The poppy flower starts out as a bowed bud, bending over the unstructured and slightly chaotic lettuce-like leaves. The bud straightens and opens only to release its four unstable and floppy petals. With their crinkled, almost paper-like structure, the white, pink, […]

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Shelter

Philipp Fröhlich — Sun, 03 May 2026 23:05:00 +0000

The fragility of shelter runs through many fairy tales. In The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats, protection is undone by deception, as the wolf gains entry by imitating the mother. In The Three Little Pigs, the threat is direct: “Then I’ll huffand I’ll puffand I’ll blow your house down.” A house appears to offer […]

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X Marks the Spot

Philipp Fröhlich — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:17:00 +0000

Every day I drop off my daughter next to a yew hedge surrounding her school. It has always surprised me how common these hedges are. Granted, they are dense, slow-growing evergreens, easily cut into shape and function almost as architecture. Almost every part of the plant is poisonous. Wood, needles and the seeds that hide […]

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Easter Morning at the Tomb

Philipp Fröhlich — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Velocity and height have never been my cup of tea, and I am still reluctant to go on anything but the most harmless thrill rides. For as long as I can remember, ghost trains have been my favorite fairground attraction. You are carried along at an even, temperate speed on a fixed track while scenes […]

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A Little Farther

Philipp Fröhlich — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:33:00 +0000

During the day, it is great to stand on a pier and stare down into the water, trying to catch a glimpse of a fish swimming by or testing how deep the eye can penetrate. At night, however, the water beneath turns into a dark, reflective surface that refuses to show anything below. I remember […]

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Falada

Philipp Fröhlich — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:01:00 +0000

According to bassist Tina Weymouth, the New York band Talking Heads took their name from an issue of TV Guide that included a glossary of television jargon. A “talking head” was defined as a head-and-shoulders shot of a person speaking. All content, no action. The fairy tale “The Goose Girl,” from the collection of the […]

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Escalators

Philipp Fröhlich — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:26:00 +0000

The first escalator was installed as an attraction at Coney Island. It resembled a diagonally moving belt rather than the horizontal steps we are familiar with today. Yet within a few years, its architectural and commercial potential became apparent. Stairs require effort and bodily awareness. They are built for individual rhythm and speed, and the […]

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Disrupted Orientation

Philipp Fröhlich — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:56:00 +0000

Shortly after moving out of my parents’ home, I was living in my first small student flat in Düsseldorf. One night in summer, I left the light on before going out, with all the windows open wide. When I came back home, the ceiling was covered with insects, some sitting still, others circling the lamp. […]

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Now for the Aulders

Philipp Fröhlich — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:09:00 +0000

Alder trees grow along rivers and marshes. A symbiotic bacterium, Frankia alni, lives on their roots, binding nitrogen from the air and allowing them to thrive in nutrient-poor soils. Rather than being emblematic or monumental, they are working trees. Although technically a hardwood, alder wood is rather soft, light, and evenly grained. Its lack of […]

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