Current exhibition

Biographies of Modern Art. Collectors and Their Works

1. September to 
24. November 2024
Espressionist painting, two men with naked chests sitting at a chessboard, a naked woman lying on a couch behind them

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel und Otto Mueller beim Schach (Erich Heckel and Otto Mueller Playing Chess, 1913, Brücke-Museum
In honour of the memory of the previous owner Dr. Victor Wallerstein (1878-1944), art historian, galleristand collector

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Expressionist painting, Portrait of a woman

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Portrait R. S., 1915, Brücke-Museum, Karl und Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Stiftung, acquired with the support of Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung 2019 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

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Black and white photograph, woman with coat and hat in front of a wall, holding a small black dog in her arms

Elsa Glaser, 1915, photo: Rudolph Dührkoop

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Expressionist painting, four naked women lying and standing around a single tree, forest in the background

Max Pechstein, Vier Akte in Landschaft (Four Nudes in a Landscape), 1912, oil on canvas, Brücke-Museum, on permanent loan from a private collection

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The exhibition Biographies of Modern Art: Collectors and Their Works presents eight Jewish collectors whose artworks are now in the Brücke-Museum ‒ art historian Rosa Schapire, art critic Max Osborn, the collector Rosy Fischer, the salonnière Elsa Glaser, economist Hans Heymann and his brother, the writer Walther Heymann, the “jack-of-all-trades” Hugo Simon and art dealer Victor Wallerstein. Each of these individuals was committed to supporting and promoting the Brücke artists.

 

Provenance research provided the starting point for this show. Since 2018, the Brücke-Museum has been re-examining its collection. One main objective is to identify works of art looted by the National Socialists. Even though provenance research primarily investigates the origin and background of the artworks, it also reveals a great deal about the former owners.

 

Biographies of Modern Art offers insights into the featured collectors’ biographies, work and networks. The exhibition wishes to remember and honour these individuals because their names are now nearly forgotten. At the same time, it pays tribute to the contributions that Rosy Fischer, Max Osborn, Elsa Glaser, Hans and Walther Heymann, Rosa Schapire, Hugo Simon and Victor Wallerstein made to Modern Art and to recognises the injustices done to them under National Socialist regime.

 

The artist Sophie von Hellermann is creating a new mural for the exhibition that offers a contemporary approach.

Curator: Lisa Marei Schmidt
Co-Curator: Ruth Ur


The exhibition is under the patronage of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

 

 

Artists

Programme

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Staff

Nadine Bauer, Provenance researcher

Isabel Fischer, Project manager

Valentina Bay, Assistent Curator

Daniela Bystron, Curator of Outreach

Céline Marten, Project Assistant