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Andy Warhol - Portrait of Peter Ludwig
Acrylic, on canvas, 105 x 105 cm1, 980
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In 1985, at the celebrations of the Cultural Award of Koblenz, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Peter Ludwig (deceased 1996) presented his vision of a museum of contemporary art at the Deutsche Eck, right between the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument and the Kastorkirche. In 1988, the exhibition „Kunst heute in Frankreich" („Art today in France“) in the Haus Metternich followed, with inventory of the Neue Galerie - Sammlung Ludwig (New Gallery - Collection Ludwig). In this exhibition, aspects of nouveau French art within the Collection Ludwig were presented for the first time. Finally, the Ludwig Museum was inaugurated with the exhibition „Atelier de France" in September 1992. From the beginning, the museum has been devoted to contemporary art, and because of this collection it has become a centre of contemporary French art. German as well as American positions of art after 1945 enrich this spectrum in a kind of dialogic correlation. Already for the inauguration of the museum, the collection in Koblenz was basically conceived with inventory of the Ludwig Collection. For the most part, it is based on permanent loans as well as donations, including notable artists from the neighbouring country France (Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages, Serge Poliakoff), that are in a close dialogue with American (Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg) and German artists after 1945 (K. O. Götz, Bernhard Schultze, Karl Fred Dahmen).
In the course of the last years, several donations (e.g. photographic works of the Bulgarian artist Pepa Hristova, now living in Hamburg, or the sculpture “Fatty” of the Chinese artist Mu Boyan, both in 2008) and new acquisitions (among others Patrick Raynaud, Jacques Monory, Olivier Debré) have complemented the collection.
The basic collection includes works of the generation of artists who made their appearance in the 1960s and who formed groups like the „Nouveaux Réalistes" (Arman, César, Jean Tinguely, Martial Raysse, Niki de Saint Phalle, Daniel Spoerri) and “Fluxus”-artists (Ben Vautier, Wolfgang Vostel). Further artists represented in the collection are among those who developed a French version of Pop-Art, like Alain Jacquet or the icelandic painter Erró.
Works of Claude Viallat and Louis Cane give an impression of the abstract art of the group “Supports- Surfaces”, which was founded in 1969. The group “Figuration libre”, which was founded in 1980, forms the French counterpart of the German “Neue Wilde”, and is represented e.g. by works by Jean-Charles Blais, François Boisrond, Hervé di Rosa and Robert Combas.
The Ludwig Museum does not only make use of its exhibition rooms but also of the adjacent park area, which is the obvious “open space” for prominent sculptures and objects. Permanently positioned in this area are "Le pouce” (“Thumb”) by César and the installation “Dépôt de mémoire et d'oubli" (“Site of Remembrance and Oblivion”) by Anne and Patrick Poirier, who developed this monumental work especially for the foundation of the museum. This latter installation is placed upon the coping of the historical wall at the Deutsche Eck, straight in the sight line to the monument of the German Emperor Wilhelm I. who is turning his back on France. The “Site” thus constitutes a contemporary counterpart with a deeper meaning. With its antiquing form it serves as a visual mediation between old and new, past and present. Since four years, the sculpture by the Japanese artist Takashi Naraha, “Structure Mandala“, constitutes with its rough granite ashlars an optical link between the Kastorkirche, the former refectory of the German Order (Deutschherrenorden), in which the “Blumenhof Restaurant-Café” resides today, and the Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus. It is the biggest sculpture the artist has ever created.
After seventeen years, the Ludwig Museum at length requires an enlargement of its collection; not only because of the background that changed and because new perspectives on collections need to be continually activated, but also with regard to our own capabilities to loan out items, that facilitate the co-operation with comparable institutions. Thus, more than one and a half year ago, a dialogue between the Museum Ludwig in Cologne and the Ludwig Museum Koblenz arose with the aim of a long-term exchange of certain works to strengthen the profile of both institutions. Already on the occasion of the reopening of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in 2001, the Ludwig Museum Koblenz lend out three principal works and was thus able to enrich the presentation “Museum unserer Wünsche” (“Museum of our Wishes”). One of these works was by Daniel Buren, one by Pierre Klossowski and one by Robert Filliou. By mutual agreement, the three principal works of the collection of Koblenz remained in Cologne.
In order to fill these gaps, as well as others, in the collection of Koblenz, and in order to add new highlights, further works from the collection of Cologne have been chosen as permanent loans for Koblenz in the last few months. With the consent of Prof. Dr. hc. mult. Irene Ludwig, these works will be transferred to Koblenz as from spring 2009.
Among the chosen items are also some works of major importance which will help to further develop the collection profile in Koblenz. The following works can be listed as examples here: the big three-part opus “Nominatif” by Arman, the two-part “Roman Color Charts” by Jim Dine and the portrait “Peter Ludwig” by Andy Warhol. We also have in view a presentation of the sculpture „Ceridwen – out of fossiles“ by Nancy Stevenson Graves in the outdoor area of the Ludwig Museum on the occasion of the BUGA 2011.
On one hand, the exhibition “From Arman to Andy Warhol - New masterpieces at the Ludwig Museum” means a new and at the same time re-presentation of works that are now integrated in the collection of the Ludwig Museum. On the other hand, it gives an opportunity for the exposition of works that have been stored for a while now (e.g. Jean Olivier Huxleux, Peter Klasen, Gérard Garouste etc.). The overview given in this show will enhance the importance of our collection in Koblenz and in Rhineland-Palatinate significantly. At the same time, the exhibition is to entertain the visitors and to enrich them virtually as well as intellectually. In addition, it provides an opportunity for us to risk a survey and determination of our status.
The accompanying catalogue will serve as an important compendium of the collection in Koblenz even beyond the BUGA 2011. The inventory catalogue will also be released in a special book-trade-edition. As there exists no inventory catalogue of the Ludwig Collection Koblenz so far, this catalogue is of special interest. "Von Arman bis Andy Warhol. Die Meisterwerke im Ludwig Museum" edited by Beate Reifenscheid, with contributions by Kaspar König, Chtistiane Morsbach, Vanessa Müller-Rees, Modo Verlag Freiburg, 2009 (176 pages/140 illustrations).
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Schwer - Orion am Deutschen Eck.
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Niki de Saint Phalle
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Jim Dine, Roman Colour Chart, 1968, oil on canvas, screws, bands.
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Roy Lichtenstein
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LA FÊTE
On Sunday, July 21, 2009, celebration of a big summer festival in the museum and Blumenhof!
As a promoter of this festival, the Blumenhof Restaurant-Café will provide for culinary highlights.
EAT AND ART
On the last day oft he exhibition, Sunday, July 5, 2009, the Ludwig Museum and Blumenhof Restaurant-Café will start with a new event series for you:
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be a Sunday-Brunch, art included, for family and friends! The Brunch will become a fixed event and will be repeated every three months
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