Jochen Labriola is a "great lyricist ...[in his paintings] all is allegory of beauty and poetry in a marvelously hamonized symphony of tender flowers of soft blooms in pastel landscapes. To realize that Jochen Labriola was born in the midst of the Berlin bombing in 1942, is to wonder how so much optimism and sophisticated 'joie de vivre' can be expressed."--- Dame Francoise Tempra, London art critic. In 1970, Labriola went to Paris to study painting. Although he was an expert in photography , he had no experience with painting. It was in Paris where Labriola worked to develope his painting skills, starting out with a surrealistic style and then shifting to realism. Labriola's paintings demonstrate his fascination with nature. Series based insects, calla lilies, irises, and tulips have occupied him since 1978.