Major Munch exhibition in Chemnitz - painting returns

The Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was an important pioneer of modernism. His life path once led him to Chemnitz. That is why the art collections there are now dedicating a major exhibition to him entitled "Angst". In addition to almost 100 works by Munch himself, the curators have brought together many works by other artists such as Andy Warhol, Neo Rauch, Georg Baselitz and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. A painting by Munch is also returning to the city for the first time in almost 90 years.

Fear and loneliness, illness, love and death are themes that run through Munch's extensive oeuvre. These themes are universal and make his work relevant to this day, emphasized Florence Thurmes, General Director of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. In many respects, he broke new ground in terms of technique and content at the time and had a formative influence on subsequent generations of artists.

Andy Warhol takes up Munch's "Scream"

Munch's world-famous scream motif will be shown in the Chemnitz exhibition as a lithograph from 1895. It enters into a dialogue with Andy Warhol's "The Scream (After Munch)" from 1984, which Warhol traced and underlined with color fields in black, yellow, green, pink and blue as a tribute to Munch. The artist Osmar Osten also explored the "Scream" in his very own way, as the exhibition shows.

Munch's works are repeatedly placed in relation to works by other artists. His self-portrait, for example, which shows him against a black background with a bony arm in the foreground as a sign of transience, hangs next to a video work by Marina Abramović. In it, she can be seen wearing a golden mask that is gradually falling off. Irene Bösch's "Bangende" shows a naked woman hunched forward on a stool - exposed and vulnerable. Michael Morgner, who repeatedly deals with themes such as death, suffering and experiences of loss, is also represented.

Painting returns after almost 90 years

In Chemnitz, Munch was already honored several times with exhibitions during his lifetime. This is also commemorated, for example with a poster of the 1929 retrospective, on which the painting "Two People. The Lonely Ones". It had to be sold again in 1937 under the National Socialists. The current exhibition marks its return, albeit only temporarily. After almost 90 years, it can be seen again in Germany and Chemnitz for the first time, emphasized Thurmes. It shows a woman and a man on a Nordic beach looking out to sea. There is not only a physical distance between the two, but also an emotional one.

Munch himself spent a few weeks in Chemnitz in 1905 at the invitation of a textile entrepreneur. During this time, he created several paintings and drawings, two of which can be seen in the exhibition: the portrait of Herbert Esche and the landscape painting "View of the Chemnitz Valley".

Exhibition is a highlight of the European Capital of Culture year

Chemnitz is this year's European Capital of Culture together with the Slovenian town of Nova Gorica on the border with Italy. The Munch exhibition "Angst" is one of the highlights of the program. It can be seen from August 10 to November 2 in the art collections on Theaterplatz. In parallel, there will be numerous events such as film screenings, lectures, readings, guided tours and workshops - for example on the topic of "Screaming - but the right way!"