Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR - Museum Barberini · Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR ......
Transcript of Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR - Museum Barberini · Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR ......
Johanna Köhler
Leiterin Marketing und PR/
Head of Marketing and Public Relations
Museum Barberini gGmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 115
14467 Potsdam, Germany
T +49 331 236014-305
www.museum-barberini.com
Ursula Rüter & Stefan Hirtz
Projektbezogene Kommunikation
ARTEFAKT Kulturkonzepte
Marienburger Str. 16
10405 Berlin, Germany
T +49 30 440 10 686
www.artefakt-berlin.de
PRESS KIT
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Press conference on October 26, 2017, at 11 am
On the panel:
Ortrud Westheider, Director, Museum Barberini
Michael Philipp, curator, Museum Barberini
Valerie Hortolani, guest curator, Museum Barberini
Johanna Köhler, Head of Marketing and PR, Museum Barberini
followed by a tour of the exhibition
CONTENTS
1. Press release Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR (pages 2)
2. Facts & figures on the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR (pages 4)
3. Facts & figures on the Museum Barberini collection (page 7)
4. Interview Johanna Pfund (Süddeutsche Zeitung) with Prof. Hasso Plattner on the
Museum Barberini collection (pages 8)
5. Press release on the Palace Gallery (pages 10)
6. Publications (page 12)
7. Room notes Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR (pages 13)
8. Summary of Palace Gallery documentation (pages 15)
9. Digital Visitors’ Book (page 18)
10. Press photos and credits for Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR (pages 19)
11. Press photos and credits for Palace Gallery documentation (page 22)
12. Sources of loans to Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR (pages 23)
13. What else is on at the Museum Barberini? (page 25)
14. Events (pages 26)
15. Advance notice: Max Beckmann: World Theater and other exhibitions in 2018 (pages
33)
Digital version:
Catalogue Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Complete list of works in Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Complete list of works in Palace Gallery documentation
Wifi network: Presse; password: Presse285
Visuals available for download in optimized print quality via the link:
www.museum-barberini.com/presse
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Press release Potsdam, September 26, 2017
The Artist’s Perspective – GDR art on show at the Museum Barberini
Over 100 works by some 80 artists from the early years until 1989
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
October 29, 2017 to February 4, 2018
The exhibition at the Museum Barberini turns the spotlight on the way artists depict
themselves. On display are about 120 works by more than 80 artists, with loans from
almost 50 sources. State art policy expected artists to express the socialist manifesto
in pictures. But artists had their own ideas and their own understanding of art, and
their output extended well beyond these bounds. From 1949 till 1990, throughout the
entire period of the GDR, painters, sculptors and photographers created many
independent works exploring how they saw their own role. This artists’ art is the
theme of the show.
Aritists were caught up in the tensions between providing a social role model and
withdrawing into a private world, between prescribed collectivism and creative individuality.
The exhibition explores self-styling by artists as individual personalities – in self- and group
portaits, in role projections and in studio paintings, in abstract formal experiments and in
references to art history. Over four generations, artistic self-affirmation and a critical take on
the life of the artist were major themes.
Artists depict how they see themselves in self- and group portraits and in projections of role
models. These genres have been handed down through Western art since the Renaissance,
and East German artists likewise picked up on this tradition, as well as on the genre of
studio painting. Alongside these time-honored motifs and themes, the exhibition traces an
interest in the abstract as an artistic rebuttal of social relevance, and in the use of the artist’s
own body in performative works during the late 1980s.
There have been many exhibitions about GDR art since 1989. Most have shone the limelight
on political aspects – from the thorny issue of state-commissioned art (Berlin, 1995) via a
comparison of dictatorships (Weimar, 1999) to the potential for dissent (Berlin, 2016). After
these political and sociological perspectives, Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR asks how
artists turned their critical gaze upon themselves, reflecting on their own way of seeing
things and on their response to the tasks required of them, and identifying space for artistic
creativity despite the official mission. This thematic approach shifts the focus away from
sociological and ideological aspects toward the works themselves.
Through this exhibition, the Museum Barberini has begun to investigate its collection of East
German art, which still plays a marginal role in German art history. Building on in-house
holdings, from which ten exhibits have been selected, the show brings together more than
100 works by about 80 artists, including paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, collage
and sculpture.
The loans have been provided by a number of museums, galleries and private collections,
among them the Nationalgalerie in Berlin; Brandenburg’s Landesmuseum für moderne
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Kunst in Cottbus & Frankfurt (Oder); the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden; the
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg in Halle; the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig; the Tübke
Foundation in Leipzig, and Galerie Eigen + Art Leipzig/Berlin.
The selection includes works by Karl-Heinz Adler (*1927), Gerhard Altenbourg (1926–1989),
Strawalde (Jürgen Böttcher) (*1931), Hartwig Ebersbach (*1940), Hermann Glöckner (1889–
1987), Hans-Hendrik Grimmling (*1947), Ulrich Hachulla (*1943), Bernhard Heisig (1925–
2011), Wolfgang Mattheuer (1927–2004), Harald Metzkes (*1929), Michael Morgner (*1942),
A. R. Penck (1939–2017), Stefan Plenkers (*1945), Evelyn Richter (*1930), Arno Rink
(*1940), Theodor Rosenhauer (1901–1996), Willi Sitte (1921–2013), Werner Tübke (1929–
2004), Elisabeth Voigt (1893–1977), Dieter Weidenbach (*1945), Trak Wendisch (*1958)
and the group Clara Mosch.
The curators are Valerie Hortolani and Michael Philipp.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 280-page catalog with approx. 180 illustrations,
published by Prestel Verlag. The catalog can be purchased for € 29.95 in the museum shop
and for € 39.95 from the book trade. It contains contribuions from, among others, Valerie
Hortolani, Petra Lange-Berndt, Michael Philipp, Carolin Quermann, Martin Schieder.
Parallel to the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, the Museum Barberini is
showing a documentation of the “Gallery in the Palace of the Republic” until May 21, 2018.
The 16 large-format paintings testify to state attempts at grandstanding by means of art.
Against this backdrop, it is all the easier to appreciate the rich landscape of East German art
that unfolded beyond this domain, and which can be viewed at the show Behind the Mask.
Marking the Palace Gallery presentation, the first issue of the Barberini Studies will be
brought out with texts by Michael Philipp. It has 112 pages. The soft-cover version will be on
sale at the museum shop for € 14.95, and the hard-cover edition can be purchased from the
book trade for €24.95.
SERVICE INFORMATION AND ADMISSION
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
October 29, 2017 to February 4, 2018
Museum Barberini, Alter Markt, Humboldtstrasse 5–6, 14467 Potsdam, Germany
Mon & Wed–Sun: 10 a.m.–7 p.m., first Thu of every month: 10 a.m.–9 p.m., closed Tue
Mon–Fri (except Tue) for kindergartens and schools with reservations: 9–11 a.m. Admission:
€ 14 / reduced: € 10 / children and teens under 18: free
Timed tickets available online at www.museum-barberini.com
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Facts & figures on the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
October 29, 2017 to February 4, 2018
Number of works on show: About 120 works by 84 artists and 2 groups
Themed rooms
1. Portraits of Painters: Artists and their Roles
2. Reflections: Unobstructed Access to the Self
3. Experiments with Form: Abstraction and Autonomy
4. Images of Communities: Groups and Collectives
5. Claims on Inheritance: Role Models and References
6. Creative Sites: The Studio as Stage and Sanctuary
7. Masquerades: Costumes and Disguises
8. Questions of Faith: References to Christianity
9. Disruptive Images: Awakenings and Eruptions
and a room devoted to Sculpture in the GDR
Curators: Valerie Hortolani, Michael Philipp
Surface area: 1,200 m²
Exhibition design: Gunther Maria Kolck and BrücknerAping Büro für Gestaltung
Exhibition catalog
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, edited by Michael Philipp and Ortrud Westheider.
With contributions by Valerie Hortolani, Museum Barberini, Potsdam; Petra Lange-Berndt,
University of Hamburg; Michael Philipp, Museum Barberini, Potsdam; Carolin Quermann,
Städtische Galerie Dresden; Martin Schieder, University of Leipzig, and others.
24 x 30 cm, 280 pages, approx. 180 illustrations
From the museum shop: € 29.95
Book trade price: € 39.95
Munich: Prestel Verlag
Exhibited artists
Karl-Heinz Adler (*1927)
Gerhard Altenbourg (1926–1989)
Heinrich Apel (*1935)
Walter Arnold (1909–1979)
Theo Balden (1904–1995)
Harry Blume (1924–1992)
Micha Brendel (*1959)
Gudrun Brüne (*1941)
Kurt Buchwald (*1953)
Kurt Bunge (1911–1998)
Clara Mosch (1977–1982, Carlfriedrich Claus, Michael Morgner, Thomas Ranft, Dagmar
Ranft-Schinke, Gregor-Torsten Schade)
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Fritz Cremer (1906–1993)
Lutz Dammbeck (*1948)
Jutta Damme (1929–2002)
Hartwig Ebersbach (*1940)
Günter Firit (1947-2010)
Wieland Förster (*1930)
Else Gabriel (*1962)
Sighard Gille (*1941)
Hermann Glöckner (1889–1987)
Peter Graf (*1937)
Hans-Hendrik Grimmling (*1947)
Hans Grundig (1901–1958)
Sabina Grzimek (*1942)
Ulrich Hachulla (*1943)
Klaus Hähner-Springmühl (1950–2006)
Angela Hampel (*1956)
Rolf Händler (*1938)
Frieder Heinze (*1950)
Helmut Heinze (*1932)
Bernhard Heisig (1925–2011)
Bert Heller (1912-1970)
Peter Herrmann (*1937)
Sabine Herrmann (*1961)
Günther Hornig (1937– 2016)
Joachim Jansong (*1941)
Irene Kiele (*1942)
Erich Kissing (*1943)
Siegfried Klotz (1939–2004)
Otto Knöpfer (1911–1993)
Gerda Lepke (*1939)
Walter Libuda (*1950)
Eberhard Löbel (*1938)
Lücke-TPT (1971-1976, Harald Gallasch, Wolfgang Opitz, A. R. Penck, Hartmut Terk)
Frank Maasdorf (*1950)
Peter Makolies (*1936)
Otto Manigk (1902–1972)
Wolfgang Mattheuer (1927–2004)
Harald Metzkes (*1929)
Paul Michaelis (1914–2005)
Gertraud Möhwald (1929–2002)
Otto Möhwald (1933-2016)
Michael Morgner (*1942)
Jenny Mucchi-Wiegmann (1895–1969)
Rudolf Nehmer (1912–1983)
A.R. Penck (1939–2017)
Wolfgang Peuker (1945–2001)
Stefan Plenkers (*1945)
Karl Raetsch (1930–2004)
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Robert Rehfeldt (1931–1993)
Evelyn Richter (*1930)
Arno Rink (1940-2017)
Theodor Rosenhauer (1901–1996)
Jürgen Schieferdecker (*1937)
Cornelia Schleime (*1953)
Baldur Schönfelder (*1934)
Eva Schulze-Knabe (1907–1976)
Willi Sitte (1921-2013)
Volker Stelzmann (*1940)
Werner Stötzer (1931–2010)
Strawalde (Jürgen Böttcher, *1931)
Erika Stürmer-Alex (*1938)
Werner Tübke (1929-2004)
Elisabeth Voigt (1893–1977)
Andreas Wachter (*1951)
Norbert Wagenbrett (*1954)
Dieter Weidenbach (*1945)
Trak Wendisch (*1958)
Karlheinz Wenzel (*1932)
Christoph Wetzel (*1947)
Karin Wieckhorst (*1942)
Karla Woisnitza (*1952)
Willy Wolff (1905-1985)
Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt (*1932)
Heinz Zander (*1939)
Thomas Ziegler (1947–2014)
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Facts & figures on the Museum Barberini collection
Hasso Plattner’s art collection ranges from the Old Masters to contemporary art. With an
outstanding grasp of painting, he has assembled, nearly unnoticed, one of the most
comprehensive collections of French Impressionist landscape paintings. His private
collection includes a large number of major works by such artists as Claude Monet (1840–
1926), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), and Alfred Sisley (1839–1899). Growing up on
the border between East and West Germany, Hasso Plattner has always had an interest in
German art of the 20th century, especially works from the former GDR and later. Faithful to
his motto “Experience the original, share the enthusiasm,” the founder and patron Prof. h. c.
mult. Hasso Plattner entrusted his collection to the Museum Barberini so that it would be
accessible to the public. Today, over 70 works by artists such as Gerhard Richter (*1932),
Bernhard Heisig (1925–2011), Werner Tübke (1929–2004), and Martin Kippenberger (1953–
1997) form the heart of the Hasso Plattner Stiftung, which is now housed at the Museum
Barberini.
Artists in the collection
Gudrun Brüne (*1941)
Hartwig Ebersbach (*1940)
Albrecht Gehse (*1955)
Ulrich Hachulla (*1943)
Bernhard Heisig (1925–2011)
Johannes Heisig (*1953)
Rolf Händler (*1938)
Walter Libuda *1950
Werner Liebmann (*1951)
Peter Makolies (*1936)
Wolfgang Mattheuer (1927–2004)
Harald Metzkes (*1929)
Roland Nicolaus (*1954)
Stefan Plenkers (*1945)
Arno Rink (1940–2017)
Willi Sitte (1921–2013)
Michael Triegel (*1968)
Werner Tübke (1929–2004)
Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910)
Sam Francis (1923–1994)
Klaus Fussmann (*1938)
Martin Kippenberger (1953–1997)
Gerhard Richter (*1932)
Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
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Attention: period of limitation until October 28, 2017
Interview Johanna Pfund (Süddeutsche Zeitung) with Prof. Hasso Plattner on the
Museum Barberini collection
SZ: You have an extensive collection of East German art – which is not nearly as popular as
the Impressionists that you collect as well. What was the main reason behind your decision
to start collecting art from the former East Germany?
Actually, there were two reasons. First of all, I took a great interest in works by painters such
as Mattheuer and Tübke as well as many other artists from the former GDR. I don’t
understand why they aren’t represented more in museums even after so many years. That’s
why I wanted to give them a forum. Secondly, with my new Museum Barberini, I have
consciously placed a focus on East German art because I think that the people there were
disadvantaged during the GDR period, and they got a raw deal again after the wall came
down.
SZ: East German art is frequently associated with monumental Socialist Realism works.
However the spectrum is much larger. Which works fascinate you in particular?
When I think of monumental Socialist Realism paintings, I think more of the former Soviet
Union than I do of the GDR. It would be a mistake to equate the two. In the GDR artists were
definitely repressed but they were still able to create some space for themselves. I’m
fascinated by paintings from the Leipzig School as well as by many works by Dresden and
Berlin artists because they are very complex and multilayered due to their engagement with
modernism and the Old Masters. I’m especially attracted to landscapes by Mattheuer
because they pull the viewer into a mysterious world.
SZ: You once said in an interview that you like beautiful things. Each person has a different
idea of what is beautiful. What is yours?
For me a work of art is beautiful if it engages all the senses. I need to feel the tension, smell
the air, and feel the water, or feel the power of an abstract composition. You notice a good
painting immediately and it can hold its own alongside other excellent works.
SZ: How do you come to a decision about which works to buy? Is there a long period of
deliberation before you make such – usually rather expensive – decisions? Or not? In other
words, what is the process?
I see a painting and immediately know if I like it. That’s why I almost always make a decision
very quickly without mulling it over or spending a long time deliberating. It goes without
saying that the provenance and quality need to add up. I also have the other paintings in my
collection in the back of my mind. Plus, I need to be able hang it somewhere and it needs to
fit.
SZ: For a long time you were primarily known as a software entrepreneur and promoter of
the sciences. In contrast, most people didn’t realize that you had put together a large
collection of art. When did you start your collection and how did it develop?
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In the 1970s I primarily collected contemporary German artists. Later, I was able to afford
more well-known, international artists.
SZ: Once one starts collecting, it’s hard to stop. How is it with you? Are there works from
particular eras or artists that you would like to purchase?
For the Museum Barberini we will continue to expand our collection of East German art, and
with the Impressionists I continue to discover paintings that I would like to have in my
collection. I like later, abstract artists that further developed Impressionist ideas and I am
expanding the collection in this direction. There is so much excellent art.
SZ: Art and science – do you think that these two disciplines have something in common? If
so, what are they?
Collecting is passive; scientific work is active. One looks for clear structures and quality in
particular in both.
SZ: You expressed strong criticism of the German law to protect cultural assets before it
passed. What do you think of the current version? How does the law affect you as a
collector? In your opinion what would be preferable?
In terms of painting, this law serves no one. Not even those who passed it. However, we
need to wait and see how it will be implemented.
SZ: Returning to art in the GDR: Which works in the exhibition at the Museum Barberini are
you especially looking forward to seeing?
I’m especially looking forward to seeing the paintings from the Museum Barberini in dialog
with loans from museums such as the Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden – this way one has a direct comparison. And I think it’s good
that in the museum we can finally show how diverse and varied East German art really was.
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Press release Potsdam, September 26, 2017
Museum Barberini shows the Palace Gallery: On view for the first time in 20 years
Alongside the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, the Gallery from the
Palace of the Republic will be on show again at the Museum Barberini from October
29, 2017 through May 21, 2018.
In 1976 the GDR opened the Palace of the Republic as the seat of parliament and an
emblematic arts venue. One feature of the Palace of the Republic were 16 large-format
paintings hanging in the main foyer. This “Palace Gallery” was created in 1975 around the
theme May communists dream? Artists like Bernhard Heisig, Wolfgang Mattheuer, Willi
Sitte, Werner Tübke, Walter Womacka, and Hans Vent were exhibited here until the Palace
closed in 1990.
Only a few weeks after the inauguration, several hundred thousand visitors had already
seen the Palace of the Republic and the Gallery. The paintings were frequently illustrated in
East German publications, and some circulated in the form of postage stamps.
The Palace Gallery was last seen in 1996. Since then, the paintings have been in storage,
unless loaned individually for a few weeks to an exhibition.
The German Historical Museum, the Federal Office of Administration, and the Museum
Barberini jointly undertook to restore the works. This meant cleaning the surface (over 200
square meters altogether), refitting the hanging devices, and repairing the frames.
Defining the theme and finding artists to take part was the responsibility of the sculptor Fritz
Cremer. The only specific requirement – on architectural grounds – was the height of the
paintings, which had to be 280 cm. The width could be anything up to six meters. The artists
were free to choose their own motif, and these were all different. Apart from Walter
Womacka’s work When Communists Dream..., references to the selected theme were fairly
loose. Each artist adhered to his own style, but all the works were figurative, reflecting the
tradition of realistic painting in the GDR.
With this documentation, the Museum Barberini is presenting a historical testimonial from
the heyday of East German state art. Against this backdrop of art used as a showcase, it is
easier to appreciate the rich landscape of East German art that unfolded beyond this
domain. It can be witnessed at the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR at the
Museum Barberini from October 29, 2017 until February 4, 2018.
In the first volume of the Barberini Studies, Michael Philipp, Chief Curator at the Museum
Barberini, investigates the origins of the Palace Gallery, drawing on autobiographical
accounts and records from the GDR’s Ministry of Culture. Asking how the subversive
sounding title May communists dream? came about, and how the state sought to assert its
ideological aims, he shows that the artists only partially complied with the expectation that
they would produce propaganda. Despite the state’s monopoly on power, culture officials
were unable to impose their objectives, and they soon distanced themselves from the works.
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Even here, at the heart of a building intended as a showpiece for the GDR, the gap between
wordy ideological pronouncements and reality was evident.
On the Palace Gallery in the Palace of the Republic
The Palace of the Republic was built in 1973–1976 to designs by Heinz Graffunder on the
site of the former royal palace in Berlin where the Humboldt Forum is currently taking shape.
It served as the seat of parliament, as a symbol of prestige, and as an arts venue. Until its
closure in 1990, it was used for cultural events, concerts and theatre, with various
gastronomical options.
The overall design for this building included a substantial presence of art: the Palace Gallery
in the main foyer. The sculptor Fritz Cremer, who was vice-president of the Academy of Arts,
was appointed in 1973 to head the artistic planning team for the Palace of the Republic. It
was his task to find the artists who would produce works on his selected theme May
communists dream?
Artists and works
Günter Brendel (*1930): Big Still Life, 1975/76
René Graetz (1908–1974) / Arno Mohr (1910–2001): War and Peace, 1975
Erhard Grossmann (*1936): Tajikistan, 1975
Bernhard Heisig (1925–2011): Icarus, 1975
Wolfgang Mattheuer (1927–2004): Good Day, 1975
Arno Mohr (1910–2001): Keep Researching Till You Know, 1975
Willi Neubert (1920–2011): Yesterday – Today, 1975
Ronald Paris (*1933): The World Is Ours – For A’ That, 1975/76
Kurt Robbel (1909–1986): The Creative Forces, 1975/76
Wolfram Schubert (*1926): Bread for All, 1975
Willi Sitte (1921–2013): The Red Flag – Struggle, Suffering and Victory, 1975/76
Werner Tübke (1929–2004): Humanity – Measure of All Things, 1975
Hans Vent (*1934): People on the Beach, 1975
Matthias Wegehaupt (*1938): Space for the New, 1975
Walter Womacka (1925–2010): When Communists Dream..., 1975
Lothar Zitzmann (1924–1977): Song of World Youth, 1975
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Publications
Catalog
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
A catalogue from Prestel Verlag will accompany the exhibition. It contains 280 pages and
approx. 180 illustrations. The catalog is available for € 29.95 from the museum shop and for
€ 39.95 from the book trade. The essays were contributed by Valerie Hortolani, Petra
Lange-Berndt, Michael Philipp, Carolin Quermann, and Martin Schieder.
First issue of Barberini Studies
May Communists Dream? The Gallery in the Palace of the Republic: A documentary
presentation
The first volume of Barberini Studies, with texts by Michael Philipp, is devoted to the
presentation of the Palace Gallery. The 112-page issue is available as a soft-cover version
for €14,95 from the museum shop, in a hard cover from the book trade for € 24.95.
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Room notes Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Portraits of Painters: Artists and their Roles
A self-portrait is always an act of artistic positioning. Since the Renaissance, artists have
used self-portraits as a tool for self-analysis. In a political system that sited the individual
within the context of a society, an artist’s preoccupation with the self was understood as an
insistence on subjectivity as the basis for creativity. From 1945 to 1989, this was a
controversial point of view. Portraits of friends and colleagues also displayed this emphasis
on the individual. Artists also grappled with the expectation for them to identify with the
workers.
Reflections: Unobstructed Access to the Self
Answers to an artist’s interrogation of the self are not always to be found in accurate
depictions of individuals or one’s surroundings. Since the dawn of modernism, artists have
used alienation, dissolution, fragmentation, collage, and symbolism to capture moments of
reality. Another artistic tool was the depiction of oneself in fictive spaces, which functioned
as projections of one’s self-perception. The focus was on an open stylistic search for the
self, rather than the individual’s place in social structures.
Images of Communities: Groups and Collectives
Group portraits are meant to convey a community’s identity. Socialist realist brigade pictures
drew from the tradition of seventeenth-century Dutch guild portraits. Yet artists’ depictions of
their friends deliberately rejected the obligation to convey a larger message. Instead, they
cast themselves as existentialists and bohemians or as ironic nudes in the style of antiquity.
The collective works demanded by the state in the late 1940s were later revived by artist
groups, whose collaboratively created works eschewed any pretensions of grandeur or
representation.
Experiments with Form: Abstraction and Autonomy
The dogma of socialist realism rejected abstract art. It was regarded as the language of the
West, both incomprehensible and unrepresentative of the new image of humankind. Yet
artists continued to insist on creating abstract, non-representational works, continuing the
tradition of Bauhaus and Russian constructivism. The 1970s saw the introduction of material
pictures and concrete art. Although abstract works were seldom seen in officially organized
exhibitions, they had a powerful impact on architecture and art in architecture.
Claims on Inheritance: Role Models and References
Artists have been referencing their predecessors since the beginning of the modern era.
They measure themselves against masterpieces, copying, citing and transfiguring the
originals in order to surpass or pass judgment on them. In doing so, they stake a claim to
their own place within the artistic canon. Official art policy understood inherited traditions
differently. State legitimation was more important than artistic self-assertion. By taking on
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stylized artist personae from preceding centuries, artists evaluated themselves according to
standards outside the purview of state authorities.
Creative Sites: The Studio as Stage and Sanctuary
The studio is a self-determined space created not merely as a place for production, but also
as a personal expression of an artist’s individuality. The studio is where artists keep their
work, the result of their artistic process. A picture of a studio is a picture of an artist. It
reveals the site of creative production and captures stages in the working process: the
emptiness of the unpainted canvas, the profusion of ideas, or the productive chaos. The
studio suspends reality at the moment when thoughts take on a chimeric form of their own.
Questions of Faith: References to Christianity
In an atheist society, religious themes indicate an outsider. And yet the long-standing
tradition of Christian imagery is also a wellspring for such basic human emotions as grief,
pain, hope, and temptation. Drawing on this tradition allowed artists to depict their individual
existential experiences in a universal way, independent of a desire to impart a religious
message. Artists might identify with a sacred figure as a means of self-elevation or self-
ironization, and a depiction of the Passion of Christ can convey an artist’s creative struggle.
Disruptive Images: Awakenings and Eruptions
Art historians coined the term “problem pictures” to describe the complex content and
compositions of 1960s artworks. By then, intellectually demanding work was tolerated, for
agreement with the socialist state was presupposed. From the 1970s, artists ceased to
acquiesce to this political instrumentalization. The prevailing conditions so disturbed them
that their work no longer related to real socialism. Disruptive images and drastic techniques
using new methods became more prevalent in the 1980s.
Masquerades: Costumes and Disguises
The mask is the leitmotif of artistic self-assertion. It allows an artist’s true personality to be
concealed and thus protected. Masks express uncertainty about one’s place in society and
the experience of being an outsider, and they can be used to counter assigned roles. As a
clear means of camouflage, the mask conveys a deliberate distancing from one’s
surroundings and assumes a subversive potential. Before 1989, artists employed masks
playfully, ironically, and symbolically, yet their powerful role went unnoticed in official art
criticism.
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Summary of Palace Gallery documentation
Documentation: The Gallery of the Palast der Republik
The Palast der Republik
In April 1976, the Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) opened in Berlin as the seat
of the German Democratic Republic’s parliament and as a prestigious cultural center—a
palace for the people. Filled with more than three hundred works of art by more than a
hundred contemporary artists, it included paintings, reliefs, tapestries, and works of glass
and porcelain. The most prominent of these were in the gallery: a group of sixteen large-
format paintings by various artists on two floors of the main foyer.
Not only was the state’s flagship building erected on the site of the former Hohenzollern
palace—its ruins were dynamited in 1950—but it also marked the very place where Karl
Liebknecht had proclaimed the German Free Socialist Republic in November 1918.
The 1970s witnessed a number of foreign policy achievements for the GDR. It had garnered
international recognition with the December 1972 ratification of the Basic Treaty
(Grundlagenvertrag) between East and West Germany, the country’s inclusion in the United
Nations in September 1973, and the signing of the Helsinki Accords in August 1975. Yet the
decade was also an era of heightened confrontation between East and West. Policy issues
like rearmament, deterrence, and the threat of war presented the world powers with major
policy concerns.
Built between 1973 and 1976, the Palast der Republik housed the GDR’s legislature
(Volkskammer), a large event hall that could hold circa five thousand visitors, numerous
restaurants, and even a bowling alley and a disco. The foyer was its centerpiece.
The Palast der Republik Gallery and its Artists
The Ministry for Culture was responsible for the building’s artistic program. In 1973 it
entrusted the concept to Fritz Cremer, a sculptor known for his memorial at Buchenwald
concentration camp. Cremer sought as his starting point “to animate and humanize the
ensemble as a whole.” He rejected the introduction of large-scale, propaganda-oriented
designs to the façade, though this was long-standing practice in East German architecture.
Throughout the 1960s, certain artists from the GDR (starting with those in Leipzig) had
begun experimenting with greater creative freedom, departing from easy-to-understand,
optimistic, and idealized depictions of work and leisure in favor of fundamental themes and
historical subjects. Artists were developing a new, complex and expressive formal language.
It was to these kinds of painters that Cremer turned.
Cremer proposed nine of the sixteen painters ultimately exhibited in gallery of the Palast der
Republik: René Graetz, Bernhard Heisig, Wolfgang Mattheuer, Arno Mohr, Ronald Paris,
Willi Sitte, Werner Tübke, Hans Vent, and Matthias Wegehaupt. The other seven were
invited on behalf of the Ministry for Culture: Günther Brendel, Erhard Großmann, Willi
Neubert, Kurt Robbel, Wolfram Schubert, Walter Womacka, and Lothar Zitzmann.
As artists, these men represented a broad spectrum in terms of age, place of study and
career profile. The oldest—Graetz, Robbel, and Mohr—were born between 1908 and 1910
and belonged, like Cremer, to the GDR’s first generation of artists. Most of the participants,
like Neubert, Sitte, Womacka, and Heisig, belonged to the second generation, a group that
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included those born up to 1930. The youngest artists commissioned were Großmann and
Wegehaupt, who were 38 and 36 years old when they were selected. The painters had
studied in different places—in Berlin-Weißensee, Dresden, Halle, Leipzig, and Weimar—but
as professors they were connected exclusively to the art schools in Berlin-Weißensee, Halle,
and Leipzig.
The Themes
For the theme of the Palast gallery, Fritz Cremer posed a question: “Are Communists
Allowed to Dream?” The artists generally interpreted the title’s open wording as a carte
blanche from a design perspective. Giving visual representation to dreams suspended the
natural laws of logic, time, and space. It also enabled another kind of composition that had
emerged in the 1960s in the GDR: “simultaneous,” or “complex painting.” Paintings in the
gallery by Heisig, Neubert, Paris, Sitte, and Wegehaupt can each be interpreted as a sort of
visual representation of a dream, and Womacka’s painting—the only one to actually show a
person dreaming—made the program more explicit.
Cremer took the concept from Vladimir Lenin’s 1902 political text What Is To Be Done? in
which Lenin argued that the dreams of revolutionaries serve as a stimulus for sweeping
social change. Direct representations of the working class and of class antagonism appear
in only a few instances in the Palast gallery, however: Mohr addressed socialist education,
Schubert looked to the typology of the proud peasant, and Großmann portrayed workers
and peasants in Soviet Tajikistan.
Of the paintings, half of them have dichotomies as their determining premise. The themes
war and peace, past and future, reaction and progress, evil and good, imperialism and
socialism feature prominently—be it in sixteenth-century garb (as in Tübke’s work), as
timeless symbolism (in Graetz’s case), or concealed in ornamental decor (as in Zitzmann’s
Song of World Youth). Heisig’s Icarus is unique among the works in the Palast gallery for
sounding a skeptical note in its disturbing depiction of the open-ended course of history.
Christian motifs and themes are also prevalent—which was no means a given, considering
their placement within the flagship building of a state that considered itself atheist. As for
history painting, Sitte’s composition depicted the historical struggle of the workers’
movement in the first third of the twentieth century, while Neubert provided an “anti-
imperialist” interpretation of the bombing of Dresden in World War II. Within the gallery, only
Mattheuer’s painting Good Day shows an everyday scene from contemporary life in the
1970s.
Reception
The stylistic diversity, multifarious approaches, and variety of pictorial concepts evident in
the Palast der Republik gallery paintings show the effects of the short-term liberalization of
GDR cultural policy in the first years after Erich Honecker’s rise to power in 1971—and what
the cultural functionaries understood by it. Indeed, the works stretched the concept of
socialist realism almost to the point of arbitrariness.
Reviews of the gallery made liberal use of the first-person plural; the words “we” and “us”
appear again and again. In this way authors conscripted readers and viewers into a
constructed community of consensus marked by shared sentiments and perspectives. The
gallery was initially embraced as an official showcase of art from the GDR, and the paintings
were presented to state guests from abroad.
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Leaders soon grew dissatisfied with the Palast’s gallery, however. Cultural policy sought to
suppress the public’s awareness of the works, even limiting the number of reproductions
that were printed.
If contemporaries saw the gallery of the Palast der Republik as a prestigious showcase for
GDR painting, it also marked the high point of the state’s official art policy. Just half a year
after the Palast was opened, the erosion of the state began to accelerate, spurred by the
expulsion of the singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann in November 1976 and the protests and
repressive state countermeasures that ensued.
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Digital Visitors’ Book
Barberini Letterbox
Barberini Digital supports the encounter with the original. A vibrant, digital approach to
explaining art accompanies the art experience – for example, with the app before the visit,
the smart wall in the museum, and afterwards.
At the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, there is also the Barberini Letterbox.
In the form of the Barberini Letterbox, the museum has established a smart Visitors’ Book
and invites visitors to express their feedback about the exhibition, their opinions or personal
requests. These handwritten contributions are captured digitally and shared with the public
in the exhibition space via an animated projection. The Barberini Letterbox is also directly
linked to the museum’s other digital channels, such as the app and the website. In this way,
the visitors’ contributions reach a broader audience outside the museum.
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Press photos and credits for Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Wolfgang Mattheuer: The
Gray Window, 1969,
Museum Barberini, © VG
BILD-KUNST, Bonn 2017
Erika Stürmer-Alex: Self-
Portrait, 1981, Besitz der
Künstlerin, Photo: Joachim
Richau, Berlin, © VG BILD-
KUNST, Bonn 2017
Trak Wendisch: Seiltänzer,
1984, Staatliche Museen zu
Berlin, Nationalgalerie,
Photo: bpk / Nationalgalerie,
SMB / Jörg P. Anders, © VG
BILD-KUNST, Bonn 2017
A. R. Penck: Me, 1970,
Privatsammlung über Neues
Museum. Staatliches
Museum für Kunst und
Design, Nürnberg, Photo:
Stiftung Neues Museum
Weserburg Bremen, © VG
BILD-KUNST, Bonn 2017
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Willi Sitte: Woman Leaning,
1957, Museum Barberini, ©
VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn 2017
Günter Firit: Self-Destruction,
1987, Nachlass Günter Firit,
Photo: Frank Strassmann
Harald Metzkes: Janus Face,
1977, Kunstsammlung der
Berliner Volksbank, Photo:
Stefan Maria Rother, Berlin,
© VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn
2017
Erich Kissing: People from
Leipzig at the Sea, 1976–
1979, Museum der bildenden
Künste Leipzig, Photo: bpk /
Museum der bildenden
Künste, Leipzig / Bertram
Kober (Punctum Leipzig), ©
VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn 2017
21
Norbert Wagenbrett: Self-
Portrait with Worker, 1983,
Brandenburgisches
Landesmuseum für moderne
Kunst, Photo: Bernd Kuhnert,
© VG BILD-KUNST, Bonn
2017
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Press photos and credits for Palace Gallery documentation
Lothar Zitzmann:
Weltjugendlied, 1975,
Leihgabe der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland, © VG Bild-
Kunst, Bonn 2017
Walter Womacka: Wenn
Kommunisten träumen...,
1975, Leihgabe der
Bundesrepublik Deutschland,
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017
Bernhard Heisig: Ikarus,
1975, Leihgabe der
Bundesrepublik Deutschland,
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017
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Sources of loans to Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR
Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg
Kunstarchiv Beeskow – archived collection of GDR art
ACT Art Collection, Berlin
ChertLüdde, Berlin
Galerie Barthel + Tetzner, Berlin
Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin
Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin
Johannes Zielke, LÄKEMÄKER, Berlin
Berliner Volksbank Art Collection
Willy-Brandt-Haus Collection, Berlin
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, Cottbus & Frankfurt (Oder)
Albertinum/New Masters Gallery, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Albertinum/Sculpture Collection, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Kunstfonds, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Prof. Harald Marx, Dresden
Angermuseum Erfurt
Bilderhaus Krämerbrücke, Erfurt
Kulturstiftung Sachsen-Anhalt. Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale)
Sammlung Liebelt, Hamburg
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Neue Galerie, Sammlung der Moderne, Kassel
Evelyn Richter Archive held by the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung at the Museum der
bildenden Künste, Leipzig Sparkasse Leipzig Art Collection
Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig
Tübke Stiftung, Leipzig
Jutta and Manfred Heinrich Art Collection, Maulbronn
Neues Museum – Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design, Nuremberg
Potsdam Museum – Forum for Art and History
Siegfried Seiz Collection, Reutlingen
Städtische Museen, Kunsthalle Rostock
Staatliches Museum Schwerin/Ludwigslust/ Güstrow
mumok | Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna
artists and their estates:
Fritz Cremer Fonds
Günter Firit Fonds
Angela Hampel
Gerda Lepke
Harald Metzkes
Robert Rehfeldt Fonds
Strawalde (Jürgen Böttcher)
Erika Stürmer-Alex
Andreas Wachter
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What else is on at the Museum Barberini?
Francis, Kippenberger, Warhol, Richter: From the Collection of the Museum Barberini
For his series of works entitled Dear Painter, Paint for Me, the painter and performance artist
Martin Kippenberger hired a commercial movie-poster artist from Berlin to produce large-
format paintings based on his photographs. In doing so, Kippenberger parodied the role of
the painter as someone who provides firsthand testimony. In this “commissioned self-
portrait,” Kippenberger presents himself as a contemporary witness to the division of
Germany, posing in front of a souvenir stand between posters that commemorate the
thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the GDR.
Abstraction in Mexico and the United States: From 1960 to the Present Day
Indigenous motifs inspired the brightly colored abstract works of Rufino Tamayo (1899–
1991), Harold J. Waldrum (1934–2003), and Dan Namingha (b. 1950).
With Harold Joe Waldrum (1934–2003), Dan Namingha (*1950) and Rufino Tamayo (1899–
1991), the Museum Barberini is presenting three idiosyncratic modern art positions in the
USA and Mexico. Paintings by Dan Namingha unite the abstract formal language of
American modernism with the motifs and symbols of the Native American Hopi tribe.
Namingha transposes motifs from ornamental ceramics and the ceremonial dances of the
Hopi into the realm of panel painting. Harold Joe Waldrum brings an abstract quality to his
motifs of New Mexican architecture through simplification, close-ups, and fragmentation.
The Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo is a pioneer of modern art in Mexico. His work recalls
early wall paintings and the pre-Columbian art of his homeland while also reflecting his
engagement with surrealism and cubism.
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Events
Public Tours
every day, except Tuesday, at 11 a.m., 12 a.m., and 3 p.m., and Thursday evenings at
5 p.m. Please reserve tickets for children’s art activities in advance on our website or at the
ticket desk in the museum.€ 3 p. p. plus admission
Children's Art Activities
Every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., children ages 5 and above can discover art in the
museum. They will encounter original works of art on exhibit and afterward explore their own
creativity in the museum’s studio. € 3 p. child
Barberini After Five
With Barberini After Five, the Museum Barberini is bringing a program for visitors under
35 to Germany. We offer tours, eye-to-eye discussions, and a place to enjoy art in a relaxing
atmosphere. Get ready for an exciting program filled with music and art.We were inspired by
a visit to The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., which launched a sophisticated
program of events with Phillips After 5. The Museum Barberini is also working with the
collection on its show From Hopper to Rothko: America’s Road to Modern Art, which will be
on display in the summer of 2017. € 10 / reduced € 8
Conferences
Conference for the exhibition Gerhard Richter: Abstraction (June 30 – Oct. 21, 2018)
Inspired by a new acquisition, the Museum Barberini will present the exhibition Gerhard
Richter: Abstraction next summer. It will follow the painter’s work from the 1960s to the
present day. The exhibition explores the relationship and significance of abstraction and
subject matter, photography and painting in color, overpainting and priming. These topics
will be addressed by Hubertus Butin, Dietmar Elger, Matthias Krüger, Ortrud Westheider,
and Armin Zweite. € 10 / € 8 reduced rate / students admitted free of charge
Auditorium
Conference for the exhibition Henri-Edmond Cross (Nov. 17, 2018 – Feb. 17, 2019)
In the 1880s a style of painting emerged from Impressionism. Known as Pointillism, it placed
small brilliant dabs of paint next to each other, fragmenting reality into single bits of color.
One of its most important representatives was Henri-Edmond Cross (1856–1910), who was
a follower of anarchist principles promoting a Utopian society. In cooperation with the Musée
des Impressionnismes Giverny, the Museum Barberini will be showing the first retrospective
of this Neo-Impressionist’s work in Germany in the fall of 2018. Talks by Marina Ferretti,
Annette Haudequet, Monique Nonne, and others will present this French artist in the context
of European modernism. € 10 / € 8 reduced rate / students admitted free of charge
Auditorium
Events on Behind the Mask. Artists in the GDR
Reading
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, 7 p.m.
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Die Lüge (The Lie) Uwe Kolbe
Uwe Kolbe’s novel deals with betrayal: Within the scope of his activities for the state, a
father makes use of various sources in the cultural scene – including his own son. This is
the story of an excessive and terrifying entanglement. Father and son begin to revolve
around each other. The reader slowly begins to have a sense of the battle they are locked in
and that it will last a life time.
In cooperation with the Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Potsdam
€ 10 / reduced € 8
Auditorium
Reading
Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, 7 p.m.
Stierblutjahre (Bull’s Blood Years: Bohemians of the East) Die Boheme des Ostens,
Jutta Voigt
Jutta Voigt discusses the desire for a different life in East Germany. In the foreword of her
book she writes, “The history of Bohemians in East Germany is one of new beginnings and
disappointment, of avant-garde and indifference. But also one of the love of the game and
the power of presumption. Bohemians in the East chain smoked and drank red wine, their
favorite being the best there was, Egri Bikavér, or Bull’s Blood from Hungary.” Jutta Voigt
studied philosophy in the 1960s at the Humboldt University in Berlin and was a part of the
Bohemian scene in Prenzlauer Berg.
In cooperation with Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Potsdam
Free
Sponsored by Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur
Reservations are recommended:
T + 49 331 289 6600, www.bibliothek.potsdam.de
Location: Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Potsdam, Am Kanal 47, 14467 Potsdam
Talk
Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017, 4–7 p.m.
Harald Metzkes at the Museum Barberini and the Potsdam Museum
Guided tour of the exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR at the Museum Barberini
followed by a talk by Dr. Jutta Götzmann: Harald Metzkes – I Create Myself
Harald Metzkes studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, was a student in the master
class of Otto Nagel at the Deutsche Akademie der Künste zu Berlin and is among the
pioneering artists of the Berlin School. He received the Brandenburg Minister President
Award in 2012 for his life’s work which consists of thousands of oil paintings, watercolors,
drawings, and prints. Four of his works can be seen in the exhibition Behind the Mask:
Artists in the GDR. A tour of the exhibition at the Museum Barberini from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
will be followed by a talk by Dr. Jutta Götzmann, Director of the Potsdam Museum, titled
Harald Metzkes – I Create Myself. It will examine the artist’s view of himself and the world.
The focus will be on two paintings that Harald Metzkes is delivering to the Potsdam
Museum’s art collection. They will be presented for the first time in the lecture hall.
In cooperation with the Potsdam Museum – Forum for Art and Culture
€ 10 / reduced € 8
Tour: Museum Barberini foyer
Talk: Potsdam Museum, Am Alten Markt 9, 14467 Potsdam
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Concert and Discussion
Soundscapes
Overtones: Painting and Music in East Germany
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, 7 p.m.
Musicians from the Kammerakademie Potsdam
Clemens Goldberg, host and critic of Kulturradio rbb, talks about composition in painting and
music on the basis of paintings in the exhibition and compositions created during the East
German period. He discusses these topics with musicians from the Kammerakademie
Potsdam and Dr. Ortrud Westheider, director of the Museum Barberini.
Host: Clemens Goldberg, Berlin
Following the concert and discussion, audience members have a special opportunity to visit
the exhibition and compare notes at the Café Barberini.
In cooperation with the Kammerakademie Potsdam
€ 20 / reduced € 15
Auditorium
Lecture Series: Art in the GDR
The exhibition Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR explores the self-expression of artists as
individuals. The widespread stereotype of state-sponsored artists gets in the way of seeing
individual artists and the different living and working conditions of artists in the former East
Germany. Almost 30 years after the end of the GDR, we have the opportunity to talk to
contemporary witnesses about their experiences, perceptions and evaluations.
€ 10 / reduced € 8
Auditorium
Monday, Nov. 27, 2017, 7 p.m.
Curriculum Vitae: Artists and Their Work
A discussion with Hartwig Ebersbach, Prof. Else Gabriel, and Prof. Hans-Hendrik Grimmling
The evening will focus on artistic and biographical issues – the development of individuals
and the selection of creative subject matter as well the conditions under which art was
studied in East Germany. Hartwig Ebersbach conspicuously presents himself in the center
of his artistic work. Between 1979 and 1983 he taught the only class for experimental art at
the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig. As a member of the Autoperforation performance
group, Else Gabriel caused irritation and made waves in Dresden and Berlin. Today she
works at the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin. The painter Hans-Hendrik Grimmling was
a co-initiator of the 1st Leipzig Herbstsalon in 1984, one of the important events in artistic
self-assertion in East Germany. Until recently he taught at the BTK University of Applied
Sciences in Berlin.
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Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, 7 p.m.
Instances of Art Education
A discussion with Matthias Flügge, Gerd Harry Lybke, and Jutta Penndorf
In spite of regulation and repression, it was possible to find ways to present art in museums,
journals, or private spaces in East Germany that did not conform to the official agenda if
those involved wanted to. Matthias Flügge is a curator and art historian who was the editor
of the journal Bildende Kunst from 1977 to 1984. Today he is rector of the Academy of Fine
Arts in Dresden. In 1983, Gerd Harry Lybke opened his Galerie Eigen + Art in Leipzig. He is
one of the leading art dealers for contemporary art in Germany. Until 2012, Jutta Penndorf
was the director of the Lindenau Museum in Altenburg and is a member of the Sächsische
Akademie der Künste.
Film Series
With its series of cinematic works by Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde), Lutz Dammbeck, A. R.
Penck, Cornelia Schleime, Gabriele Stötzer, and others, the Film Museum is showing how
artists in East Germany also used film as a means of implementing or questioning their
aesthetic strategies by examining their own profession. A motion picture by director Konrad
Wolf and television reports add additional perspectives to the theme of artists in the GDR.
Visitors to the Museum Barberini or these showings will receive a discount on admission to
the other museum upon presentation of their ticket.
Ticket reservations:
T +49 331 27181-12, [email protected]
€ 6 / reduced € 5
Filmmuseum Potsdam, Breite Str. 1a/Marstall, 14467 Potsdam
Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, 7 p.m.
Short Films and Artist Interviews with Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde)
The painter and film-maker Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde) discusses his cinematic work in
East Germany. The 86 year-old presents a selection of his artist portraits and experimental
films which bring the works of the Old Masters to life.
Host: Knut Elstermann
Drei von vielen
D: Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde), GDR 1961, in German, 35 min.
Kurzer Besuch bei Hermann Glöckner
D: Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde), GDR 1984, in German, 31 min.
Venus nach Giorgione
D: Jürgen Böttcher (Strawalde), GDR 1981, in German, 21 min.
Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, 7 p.m.
Der nackte Mann auf dem Sportplatz
D: Konrad Wolf, with Kurt Böwe, Ursula Karusseit, GDR 1974, in German, 101 min.
Introduction: Dr. Thomas Beutelschmidt (media historian)
Konrad Wolf’s succinctly narrative satire addresses the contradictory situation of the artist in
a socialist society. Contemporary television reports supplement the film.
Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, 7 p.m.
Subversionen in East Germany
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An independent film scene emerged in East Germany at the end of the 1970s in which
artists countered GDR reality with their own virtual reality.
Introduction: Dr. Claus Löser (film historian)
Terror in Dresden
D: A. R. Penck, GDR 1978, in German, 20 min.
Animated Film 3 – Esclapantes oder Sommer in Uhlenhorst
D: Andreas Dress, GDR 1983, in German, 16 min.
Lokalbestimmung
D: Gabriele Stötzer, GDR 1984, in German, 15 min.
Mirabilia
D: E. Wolfgang Hartzsch, GDR 1988, in German, 20 min.
Zwischen Gold und Gelb kann nur noch Licht fallen
D: Cornelia Schleime, GDR 1989, in German, 18 min.
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, 7 p.m.
Films and Artist Interview with Lutz Dammbeck
Leipzig-born artist Lutz Dammbeck was one of the initiators of the 1st Leipzig Herbstsalon in
1984, a semi-legal exhibition of six artist friends. In 1995, he created a film about the
generation of his teachers which included Werner Tübke and Bernhard Heisig.
Host: Ralf Schenk, DEFA-Stiftung (t.b.c.)
1. Leipziger Herbstsalon
D: Lutz Dammbeck, GDR 1984/2017, in German, 22 min.
Dürers Erben
D: Lutz Dammbeck, D 1995, in German, 58 min.
Barberini After Five
Recharge, Relax, Rethink
Barberini After Five is a series of events for visitors under 35 offering tours, eye-to-eye
discussions, and a place to enjoy art in a relaxing atmosphere. Every first Thursday of the
month from 5 to 9 p.m. you can enjoy an exciting program of music and art. Every evening
begins with a tour of the exhibition and a hands-on group activity that references topics and
motifs found in the exhibition. Cocktails mixed by Bar Fritz’N.
Young Friends free / Students € 5 / Friends € 3
Regular € 17 / reduced € 13
Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017
Barberini After Five: Let loose with DJ Cpt. Twist
Along with the visual arts, pop culture in East Germany was highly controversial. Cultural
historian Bodo Mrozek from the Center for Contemporary Historical Research in Potsdam
and author of the book Jugend – Pop – Kultur. Eine transnationale Geschichte (2018)
presents a richly illustrated overview with many sound bites on the absurdity of East
Germany’s pop culture history. Alongside criminalized fashion such as jeans and plaid
shirts, there was also the Leipzig Lipsi, a dance created by the state to counter rock-and-roll
gyrations in the West. Unlike the later broadcaster DT 64, it was poorly receive by East
German youth. They chanted: “We don’t want Lipsi or Alo Koll, we want Elvis Presley and
we love rock ’n’ roll.”
5:30 p.m.: Tour of the exhibition, meet in the foyer
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6–6:30 p.m.: Introduction: Marching to a Different Beat: Rock and Pop Music in East
Germany, Bodo Mrozek: Auditorium
6:30–9 p.m.: DJ Cpt. Twist mixes historic vinyl tracks
(Soul jazz and R&B): Foyer
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017
Barberini After Five: Barberini Quiz
Why are bananas bent? No idea, but can you heal wounds or make good paint with them?
These and many other strange questions will be asked and answered by Seitenquiz in
entertaining and sometimes chaotic quiz rounds. The activists from Seitenquiz turn the
theme of the exhibition on its head. The winner will be the unofficial Barberini quiz
champion, and even if you don't know anything about art, you still have an excellent chance
to win during this evening of entertainment.
5:30 p.m.: Tour of the exhibition, meet in the foyer
6–8 p.m.: Barberini quiz with Seitenquiz: Auditorium
6–9 p.m.: Music and drinks in the foyer
Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018
Barberini After Five: Take It Easy
5:30, 6:30, 7:30 p.m.: Tour of the exhibition, meet in the foyer
6–9 p.m.: Enough looking back on the past. We’ll take a look at the future.
Get in the mood for the New Year with music and drinks: Auditorium
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018
Barberini After Five: Best of Poetry Slam
Five well-traveled and much-celebrated poets take the stage with poems that describe, jinx,
conjure up, or counter the echo chamber that deals with the exhibition Behind the Mask:
Artists in the GDR. But since the invited artists are too good to send home right away, they
will compete against each other in a second, freestyle round to settle once and for all who
the audience favorite is. Afterwards, DJ Ernesto Linares will add his own acoustic beats to
the rhythms of speech.
5:30 p.m.: Tour of the exhibition, meet in the foyer
6–8 p.m.: Best of Poetry Slam: Auditorium
DJ Ernesto Linares (Spree vom Weizen): Auditorium
Children Guide Children
Art at Eye Level
Kids show their favorite pictures.
Our Kid Guides take children between 6 and 13 on a tour of the exhibition Behind the Mask:
Artists in the GDR. They reveal why artists painted themselves so often, why they
sometimes wore masks and costumes, why there are group portraits – and so much more!
First Sunday of every month, 3 p.m. (30 min.)
€ 3 per child
Meeting place: Foyer
Birthday Party with Art, Tour and Workshop
Available Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays after 3 p.m. (120 min.)
€ 110 for a maximum of 15 children
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Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018
Unterwegs im Licht
On January 20, 2018, Potsdam is presenting Unterwegs im Licht. At nightfall, artistic light
displays create a magnificent play of color on the facades of buildings in the center of
Potsdam. To celebrate, the Museum Barberini is offering a variety of creative events for
children from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Admission for children is free.
Discount admission for adults € 10
Children’s Art Activities, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
For kids from 5 to 10
€ 3 per child
Please register in advance.
Meeting place: Foyer
Children Guide Children Through the Exhibition
Behind the Mask: Artists in the GDR, 4–4:30 p.m.
For kids from 5 to 12,
max. 20 children
Open Studio, 3–5 p.m.
Extended opening hours: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Advance notice: Max Beckmann: World Theater and other exhibitions in 2018
October 29, 2017 to February 4, 2018
Behind the Mask. Artists in the GDR
February 24 to June 10, 2018
Max Beckmann: The World as a Stage
June 30 to Oktober 21, 2018
Gerhard Richter. Abstraction
November 17, 2018 to Feburary 17, 2019
Henri-Edmond Cross
Exhibition Max Beckmann: The World as a Stage
24 February to 10 June, 2018
Max Beckmann (1884–1950) was fascinated by the world of the theater, circus, and
music halls as metaphorical showcases for human relationships and world affairs.
Many of his paintings, prints, drawings, and sculptures allude directly to these
subjects, conveying his idea of the world as a stage.
Museum Barberini, which opened in January 2017 with the exhibitions Impressionism: The
Art of Landscape and Modern Art Classics: Liebermann, Nolde, Munch, Kandinsky, is now
launching with Max Beckmann: The World as a Stage a series of monographic exhibitions
on the artists of classical modernism.
The exhibition was conceived in cooperation with the Kunsthalle Bremen, where it is on view
from 30 September 2017 to 4 February 2018.
The images presented demonstrate that, like no other artist, Max Beckmann turned
theatrical display into a fundamental principle of painting. Starting in the years after World
War I, he used three methods to create a mood of ostentation in his works: First, he staged
the body; secondly, he used objects as attributes; and thirdly, he worked with the gesture of
pointing.
A focus on dramatic grandstanding—whether by music hall or carnival artistes, acrobats,
clowns, or actors—dominated Beckmann’s work from the early 1920s until his death in
1950. Stephan Lackner, a writer and Beckmann confidant, raised the artist’s enduring
interest in this subject matter to a philosophical level in 1938 with the concept of the theater
of the world. He connected Beckmann’s depictions with the Baroque idea of the affairs of the
world as mere play-acting providing clues to the underlying reality. The concept of the
theater of the world has often been associated with Beckmann. And yet Max Beckmann:
The World as a Stage is the first exhibition devoted to an extensive exploration of this topic.
Here, Beckmann’s theatre of the world becomes fully tangible in both its visual and
ideological dimensions as we watch the painter and author of two little-known dramas cast
himself in the roles of “theater director, film director, and stagehand.”
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On view are some 150 of Beckmann’s works—including as special highlight two large-format
triptychs that have rarely been shown in Europe. The starting point for the exhibition is the
collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen, which has one of the most important groups of works
by Beckmann anywhere in Germany, including major paintings as well as nearly all of the
artist’s prints. In the show, the works enter into dialogue with important loans from major
museums and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the
National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Museum Ludwig (Cologne), and the Von der
Heydt-Museum (Wuppertal).
The exhibition was curated by Eva Fischer-Hausdorf (Kunsthalle Bremen) and Ortrud
Westheider (Museum Barberini).
In preparation for the exhibition, a symposium was held at Museum Barberini on 29 March
2017. The speakers were Dr. Eva Fischer-Hausdorf, Kunsthalle Bremen; Dr. Ortrud
Westheider, Museum Barberini; Dr. Christiane Zeiller, Max Beckmann Archive, Munich; Dr.
Lynette Roth, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge (USA); Prof. Dr.
Irene Pieper, University of Hildesheim; and Dr. Sebastian Karnatz, Bavarian Department of
State-owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, Munich.
The talks are printed as essays in the extensive exhibition catalogue, which also illustrates
each exhibited work in color.
Works were loaned for the exhibition by the following:
Gemeente Stadsarchief Amsterdam
Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Fotonachlass Heinrich George, Berlin
Institut für Theaterwissenschaft der Freien Universität Berlin, Theaterhistorische
Sammlungen
Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Zirkusarchiv Winkler, Berlin
Kunstmuseum Bonn
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
Stiftung Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
Museum Folkwang, Essen
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Sammlung Peter Rawert, Hamburg
Museum Ludwig, Köln
Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig
Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust, London
Tate, London
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Max Beckmann Archiv, Max Beckmann Nachlässe, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen,
München
Pinakothek der Moderne, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, München
Richard L. Feigen Collection, New York
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
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Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal
Mr. and Mrs. Michael B. Grogan
as well as private lenders who do not wish to be named.
SERVICE DATA & TICKETS
Museum Barberini, Alter Markt, Humboldtstraße 5–6, 14467 Potsdam
Mon & Wed-Sun 10 a.m.–7 p.m., first Thu of the month 10 a.m.–9 p.m., closed Tue
Mon-Fri (except Tue) for kindergartens and schools by appointment 9–11 a.m.
Admission: € 14/ € 10 with discount / children under 18 free of charge
Annual pass: individual € 30 / couples € 50 /
Young Friend (under 35) € 20
Online tickets for a specific time slot: www.museum-barberini.com