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Notes on provenance on the backs of examined paintings from the art collection © Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Exhibition
Forensics: The story(s) behind the works
29 Oct 2022 – 22 Jan 2023
Regular hours
- Saturday
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Sunday
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Monday
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Tuesday
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Wednesday
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Thursday
- 10:00 – 20:00
- Friday
- 10:00 – 20:00
Cost of entry
€9/6
Free entry up to the age of 18, on Tuesdays from 3 p.m. and every first Sunday of the month
Travel Information
- S-Bahn: Unter den Linden
Provenance research means more than clarifying ownership and making amends for historical injustice.
About
It enables a new and different perspective on well-known works. Surprising research results about the origin of pictures, books, objects and documents in the collections of the Academy of Arts are the starting point for the exhibition Trace Securing . The detective methods of provenance research are illustrated using selected examples and the stories behind the works are told. At the same time, the repercussions of the research results for the academy and how complex the decision-making process in the case of contaminated objects is addressed.
The exhibition focuses on central aspects of the ownership history of works of art: it is about identifying Nazi-looted art in the company's own holdings and about the search for the collections of the Prussian Academy of Arts that were lost in World War II. A completely different topic, which is increasingly becoming the focus of provenance research, is the efforts of the GDR state apparatus to acquire valuable art objects or identity-establishing collections.
The exhibits include manuscripts by the philosopher Walter Benjamin, the collection of the art critic Alfred Kerr that was confiscated by the Gestapo, a sketchbook from the estate of Max Liebermann, oil sketches by Carl Blechen that were believed to be lost, and Otto Nagel’s private collection of paintings, which, after his death, made the Desirability of GDR cultural policy.
The exhibition is accompanied by a program of events with discussion rounds, a wide range of mediation offers and a publication with in-depth essays and work biographies. The artist and filmmaker Marianna Christofides deals with objects and themes of the exhibition in a mixed media installation.
Accompanying the exhibition, KUNSTWELTEN offers programs for children, young people and families. In a "counterfeiting workshop", young and old guests can paint over pictures, print them and change signets. Audio guides, which were produced together with schoolchildren, guide you through the exhibition. They tell stories from the perspective of various exhibits without revealing the title, artist or owner. Visitors follow a discovery trail to find the exhibits in the exhibition.
