There's a show up at the Ludwig collection in Oberhausen. Unfortunately it's closing in May, and with a move looming I don't really see myself making it over to Germany anytime soon. Maybe I can get the catalog. Meantime, here's a review.
The collection is Peter and Irene Ludwig's. It's been a bit mysterious to me because I've never been able to find any up-to-date info on it; all of the print references I could find were from the '80s. But now, all of a sudden (seemingly), the website has a lot more information. Anyway: in the 1970s and 1980s they put together a good amount of East German art, which is interesting to me on two fronts: first just for the works themselves, and second for the nature of the collectors' focus. West German chocolate magnates interested in East German art? Well, it's interesting to me, at least, and Hans Haacke did something nice with it once. But anyway:
„Deutsche Bilder aus der Sammlung Ludwig“ zeigt erstmals miteinander Werke von Künstlern aus Deutschland Ost und Deutschland West aus der Sammlung Ludwig gleichberechtigt auf einer Augenhöhe: Die Ausstellung will dem in den vergangenen Jahren oft verbissen geführten Bilderstreit durch das Miteinander der Bilder eine erlebbare Gestalt geben: der deutsch-deutsche Bilderstreit als eine Begegnung der Bilder.
So the show is dedicated to both East and West German art. Back in the day, Ludwig was accused of favoring East German artists (sorry, no citations). Apparently the foundation is making a first foray into getting past the whole Bilderstreit thing. Can we call it Bilderstreitsbewältigung?
(I can't muster any really interesting insights into Ludwig and collecting and GDR art and anti/revisionism right now. Maybe next time.)
[via Ostblog]
Posted by Heather at April 18, 2006 02:32 PM
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