Exhibitions 2015

The Würth Collection is one of the largest private collections in Europe, containing more than 16,800 works of art. The most important of the classic modern artists are represented, as well as masterpieces from the Middle Ages and classic works of contemporary art. The unusual exhibition is a gain for the Kunstherbst Berlin. With more than 400 works of art of international significance, the collection will be presented to the public in a scope never previously seen, in an exhibition space of 5,000 square meters.

With his characteristic compositions of rectangles and black lines, Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) is regarded as one of the founders of abstract painting. He is considered to be a master of the composition of coloured areas. Through his method of strict reduction to the basic elements of painting, Mondrian created icons of classic modernism. A lesser-known fact, however, is that Mondrian started out by creating paintings in the impressionist style of the Hague School and explored different styles of art before lines and the organisation of image areas dominated his artistic creations. A new exhibition developed by the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag in cooperation with the Martin-Gropius-Bau now endeavours to illustrate this development in Mondrian’s works.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of establishment of German-Israeli relations, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is sending some 70 masterpieces to Europe for the first time – to Berlin. The accent of the exhibition lies on the art of the modern era and is supplemented by contemporary media art from Israel. Artistic trends of the 20th century are represented by paintings, sculpture and graphic art.

For the first time artworks from Oceania are the subjects of an exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau. They come from an area on the middle and lower reaches of the river Sepik in Papua-New Guinea. About 220 artworks from twelve lenders – some of Europe’s most prominent museums are involved – will be on view. As early as the beginning of the 20th century the aesthetics of the art of the Sepik region were fascinating European scholars and artists, Berlin and Basel being centres of Sepik scholarship.

Liu Xia, born in Beijing, is one of the most remarkable artists from China. She is a photographer and painter, poet and novelist. During the relatively liberal 1980s, she was an active member of the art scene in Beijing, which at the time was experimental and beginning to open up to the world. Today, the Martin-Gropius-Bau presents her photographic work, with around 50 objects, many of which were created during the 1990s. The exhibition also dedicates space to her poems.