In the eye of the beholder: portraits of Angela Merkel

Photographer Herlinde Koelbl immortalized the German chancellor in her series "Traces of Power" — in addition to former chancellor Gerhard Schröder and former foreign minister Joschka Fischer. Photographing and interviewing the politicians for the project, Koelbl's long-term study examined how years in office transforms people.

US artist Elizabeth Peyton portrayed the German chancellor for a profile in "Vogue" magazine in 2017. Peyton's stylized depiction of a younger Merkel carried on a theme of presenting strong women characters in her portraits that have also included Michelle Obama, Camille Claudel and Frida Kahlo. Peyton was inspired for this portrait by hundreds of photos of the Chancellor taken across 30 years.

"We see images of her where she can appear to be a quite bland and almost cold person; but what I wanted to get across was her humanitarian stance," said Northern Irish artist Colin Davidson of his Merkel portrait for "Time's" 2015 Person of the Year cover. That year, the chancellor dealt with "two existential crises," wrote "Time" — Europe's debt crisis and a mass influx of refugees.

This drawing by Dutch artist Erik van Lieshout portrays the Chancellor with red lips and a tired, inscrutable gaze. It was actually acquired by the contemporary art collection of the Federal Republic of Germany, which was started in 1970 in Bonn. Van Lieshout said he only needed an hour to finish his portrait and that the "mouth turned out to be very beautiful."

Angela Merkel has not only inspired renowned artists, but hobby painters as well, including George W. Bush. The former US president — who had never lifted a paintbrush in his life — set out to paint a series of 30 world leaders, among them the German Chancellor, for a 2015 show called "The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy."

Art begins on the street: In the tradition of the murales — South American murals with political statements — Italian street art artist Jupiterfab depicted Angela Merkel geting close and personal with the former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on a building wall in Athens.

Political art can also hang in the museum: Here, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, donning a Napoleon hat, sits on the motherly lap of a naked Angela Merkel. The British artist and satirist Kaya Mar prefers to focus on politicians in his motifs; he has also portrayed Theresa May, Donald Trump and the Pope in satirical contexts.

Bulgarian art students decorated the walls of buildings in the village of Staro Zhelezare — initially with portraits of the inhabitants. Later, there were also politicians who seemed to be in dialogue with the locals, like Chancellor Merkel. The walls have meanwhile also been painted with copies of artworks from New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Some sculptures of the chancellor are deliberately provocative: "European Citizenship" by Alexander Nikolic and Michael Kalivoda shows a defecating Merkel; while Peter Lenk's relief "Global Players" shows her and other German politicians naked and engaged in sexual play. Unoffensive in comparison, Georg Korner's installation "Transit" (pictured) includes Merkel among 2,600 figures.

In his series of images "Hipstory," Israeli illustrator Amit Shimoni portrays the powerful and influential as young hipsters. Trump, for instance, wears a Hawaiian shirt, while Obama has dreadlocks. Merkel is among them, with dark lipstick, a nose piercing and a felt black hat.

New wrinkles around her eyes and mouth have been appearing in cartoonists' depictions of her, too. The German chancellor has been caricatured on countless occasions in newspapers worldwide — demonstrating that her influence and power go way beyond the country's borders.