Media Release Aarau, August 2017 Back to Paradise Masterpieces of Expressionism from the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the Osthaus Museum Hagen 26 August 3 December 2017 Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau The exhibition Back to Paradise. Masterpieces of Expressionism from the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the Osthaus Museum Hagen brings together for the first time two collections which can both lay claim to possessing firstclass works from all phases of Expressionist work in Germany between 1905 and 1938. The outstanding paintings, drawings and graphic works were made by such renowned artists as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller and Emil Nolde. The works by German artists receive a superb complement in the form of works by Swiss Expressionists from the collection of the Aargauer Kunsthaus. In the early years of the 20 th century some German artists broke with the traditional pictorial forms and strove for a direct and expressive pictorial language. The artistic innovations were not purely formal in nature, but concentrated on individual expression, on the reproduction of the subjective emotions of their creators. Artists inquired into the essence of objects rather than their outward appearance. The subjective representation of individual experiences was a break with earlier, purely representational art. By promulgating a new concept of art, these artists declared war on naturalism and the bourgeois view of the world. Caught in a field between industrialisation and social change the Expressionists sought new models of life, and struck a rich seam in harmony with nature and engagement with foreign cultures. The title of the exhibition, Back to Paradise, gives verbal expression to this longing for the primal and the individual which was so important to the birth of modern art.
Among those enthusiastic about this completely new sense of art were Dr Othmar and Valerie Häuptli, whose collection entered the Aargauer Kunsthaus as a donation in 1983. Apart from a large portfolio of important works by French and Swiss artists, including artists from Aargau, about 100 works of German Expressionism found their way into their collection. The Häuptlis were amateur collectors in the best sense of the term. They collected things which they liked and with which they were able to form a personal relationship. It is perhaps this immediate relationship with the works that gives great power to the collection and the paintings themselves. The Osthaus Museum Hagen has a similar collection. In 1921 its founder, the art collector and patron Karl Ernst Osthaus left his collection to the Folkwang Museum in Essen. In 1945 the collection was reconstructed. Its core consists of outstanding works by German Expressionists, including the artists of the Brücke mentioned above, like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, as well as representatives of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München and the Blaue Reiter, including Gabriele Münter, Alexej von Jawlensky and Franz Marc. The juxtaposition of selected masterpieces from the two collections is intended to bring out the different branches within the Expressionist trend and at the same time clarify and emphasise the painterly highlights. One further intention of the exhibition is to offer the interested public the possibility of comparing the focuses and strategies of the two collections. The exhibition will include paintings, works on paper and woodcuts from all phases of Expressionism. Works that were once produced in the same studios may now years later encounter one another again in the museum. The Swiss works from the collection of the Aargauer Kunsthaus are particularly important in this respect. One of the major figures in Expressionism is the Swiss artist Cuno Amiet. The Brücke painters even invited him to join their group. Amiet remained a member until the group broke up in 1913. In the early 20 th century he was given an intermediary role between the new French view of art and the revolutionary German direction in art. Conversely the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner exerted an important influence on the Basel Expressionists of the Rot-Blau group, whose members included Hermann Scherer, Paul Camenisch and Albert Müller. A number of Scherer s works entered the collection of the Aargauer Kunsthaus as a long-term loan from the Werner Coninx Foundation. The exhibition project was conceived as a collaboration between the Aargauer Kunsthaus, the Osthaus Museum Hagen, the Georg Schäfer Museum in Schweinfurt and the Institute for Cultural Exchange in Tübingen.
Artists Cuno Amiet (1868 1961); Max Beckmann (1884 1950); Paul Camenisch (1893 1970); Lyonel Feininger (1871 1956); Conrad Felixmüller (1897 1977); Erich Heckel (1883 1970); Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880 1938); August Macke (1887 1914); Franz Marc (1880 1916); Albert Müller (1897 1926); Otto Mueller (1874 1930); Gabriele Münter (1877 1962); Emil Nolde (1867 1956); Max Pechstein (1881 1955); Hermann Scherer (1893 1927); Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884 1976); Alexej von Jawlensky (1864 1941) Curator Thomas Schmutz, Curator of the collection / Dep. Director Curatorial assistant Bettina Mühlebach, Research Assistant Tour of the exhibition After the show in the Aargauer Kunsthaus, the exhibition Back to Paradise. Masterpieces of Expressionism from the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the Osthaus Museum Hagen will travel on to Germany, and can be seen from December 16 2017 until April 8 2018 in the Museum Georg Schäfer in Schweinfurt. Publication A catalogue accompanying the exhibition tour will be published. The richly illustrated, German-language publication contains essays by Tayfun Belgin, Wolf Eiermann, Otto Letze and Thomas Schmutz. The catalogue is about 210 pages long and was designed by Neeser & Müller, Basel. Back to Paradise. Masterpieces of Expressionism from the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the Osthaus Museum Hagen Ed. by Thomas Schmutz and Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau / Tayfun Belgin and Osthaus Museum Hagen / Wolf Eiermann and Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt / Otto Letze and Institut für Kulturaustausch, Tübingen. Exh. Cat., Aarau/Hagen/Schweinfurt/Tübingen: Aargauer Kunsthaus / Osthaus Museum Hagen / Museum Georg Schäfer / Institut für Kulturaustausch, will be published by Hirmer Verlag Munich 2017. Preview for the Media Thursday, 24.8.2017, 10.30 am Introduction and tour of the exhibition with Thomas Schmutz, Curator of the collection / Director followed by drinks in the foyer. Exhibition Opening Friday, 25.8.2017, 6 pm 6.15 pm Madeleine Schuppli, Director of the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Thomas Schmutz, Curator of the collection / Dep. Director, Tayfun Belgin, Director Osthaus Museum Hagen. Followed by drinks in the foyer. From 7.30 pm Dinner in the tent on the roof of the Kunsthaus 5-6 pm Preview for members of Aargau Art Association Children s vernissage Friday, 25.8.2017, 6.00-8.00 pm Assembly: 6.00 pm in the studio, lower ground floor (ages 5 13)
Tour and discussion Thursday, 7.9., 6.30 pm With Thomas Schmutz, Curator of the collection / Dep. Director. Followed by drinks. Admission + CHF 8.- Literary voyage of discovery With poetry and prose into Expressionism Thursday, 19.10., 6.30 pm Walter Küng, actor, reads texts by Max Pulver, Robert Faesi and Karl Stamm among others. Adviser on text selection Walter Labhart. Followed by drinks Admission + CHF 15. In the Frenzy of Composing Piano music of Expressionism Thursday, 2.11., 6.30 pm The pianist Tomas Dratva plays expressionist pieces by Ernest Bloch, Arnold Schönberg, Wladimir Vogel and Stefan Wolpe among others, providing an audible insight into the world of music in the age of Expressionism. Followed by drinks. Admission + CHF 15. Guided tours Thursday, 6.30 pm 21.9. with Brigitte Haas, 5.10. with Bettina Mühlebach, 26.10. with Bettina Mühlebach, 9.11. with Brigitte Haas, 16.11. with Bettina Mühlebach, 23.11. with Brigitte Haas, 30.11. with Bettina Mühlebach Sunday, 11.00 am 27.8. with Brigitte Haas, 3.9. with Astrid Näff, 17.9. with Astrid Näff, 8.10. with Bettina Mühlebach, 15.10. with Astrid Näff, 22.10. with Bettina Mühlebach, 29.10. with Bettina Mühlebach, 5.11. with Brigitte Haas, 12.11. with Brigitte Haas (in the context of Weekend of Graphic Art", further information at: www.netzwerk-graphische-sammlungen.com), 19.11. with Bettina Mühlebach, 26.11. with Brigitte Haas, 3.12. with Brigitte Haas Saturday, 4.00 pm 11.11. with Brigitte Haas (in the context of the Weekend of Graphic Art, further information at: www.netzwerk-graphische-sammlungen.com) Art education Introduction for educators Wednesday 30.8. 14.30 16.30 pm Thursday, 31.8. 17.30 19 pm Open studio Sunday, 27.8. / 24.9. / 29.10. / 26.11. 11.00 am 4.00 pm The studio is open to creative minds both big and small.
Art Hunt Saturday, 26.8. / 2.9. / 9.9. / 16.9. / 23.9. / 18.11. / 25.11. / 2.12. 10.00 am 12.30 pm (age 9 13) 1.30 3.30 pm (age 5-8) Helping children to encounter art Family Sunday, 10.9. / 8.10. / 12.11. 11.00 am, 1.00 pm and 3.00 pm Interactive tour and workshop. For families with children from age 6 Further events for schools, families, children and young people as well as barrier-free offers see separate flyer. Dates for Art-Workshops (school classes) and Art meetings (adults) on request: T +41 (0)62 835 23 31, E-Mail kunstverwmittlung@ag.ch Media images Images can be found on our website www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch > Media ready for download. Please respect the caption. Opening times Tue-Sun 10.00 am 5.00 pm, Thur 10.00 am 8.00 pm For further information: Thomas Schmutz, Curator of the collection / Dep. Director Aargauer Kunsthaus, T +41 (0)62 835 23 22, E-Mail thomas.schmutz@ag.ch Bettina Mühlebach, Research Assistant, Aargauer Kunsthaus, T +41 (0)62 835 42 11, E-Mail bettina.muehlebach@ag.ch Filomena Colecchia, Communication/media, T +41 (0)62 835 23 34, E-Mail filomena.colecchia@ag.ch Become a fan of the Aargauer Kunsthaus on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.