Art and Climate Change 2026

Erich Friedrich Becker kept a watchful eye on some special trees in the parks and gardens of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar over a period of several years. The exhibition presents selected tree studies and artworks made of the wood of now dearly departed trees.

Erich Friedrich Becker kept a watchful eye on some special trees in the parks and gardens of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar over a period of several years. The exhibition presents selected tree studies and artworks made of the wood of now dearly departed trees.

Climate change is threatening our parks and gardens. In the coming years, a number of very old and important trees will be lost forever. On one hand, we must work to implement climate adaptation measures and take corresponding steps to restructure our tree population. On the other, we must step up efforts to document its current condition as specifically as possible. Beyond the technical documentation process, it is also important to capture the emotional and artistic impact of these ancient trees. To this end, we commissioned Erich Friedrich Becker to make use of the wood from climate-damaged trees on the park grounds as material for creating new artworks. Mr Becker also memorialised important trees at Belvedere and in other parks in a series of drawings. For him, this was a very personal task that he accepted on a voluntary basis.

The exhibition presents portraits of notable veteran trees as they appear today at Belvedere and also Ettersburg, for example. In each portrait, Mr Becker successfully captures the individuality and personality of these silent witnesses to history. The graphic works are supplemented by several wood sculptures he created from trees that have already been cut down. In a very real way, he has given them a new life in the form of artworks.

Erich Friedrich Becker was born in 1942 in Orlamünde and completed his academic and musical training at the Spezialschule music conservatory in Weimar Belvedere. Even during his school years, his fascination with the old trees at Belvedere was encouraged by his drawing instructor Gerhard Wendenhorst. Mr Becker has worked as a freelance artist since 2005. His first exhibition at Belvedere debuted in 2023.

Cover image: “Der Dreiklang” (The Triad) by E. F. Becker