Cultural History

The new guide to the collection of the Museum Schnütgen offers a compact, chronological overview of the internationally famous, high-quality and multi-faceted collection of the museum. The volume presents some 250 works from the various sections of the collection in an attractive manner and with the latest research findings.

Qatari Style investigates the architectural identity of Qatar, which celebrates the warmth and hospitality of the Middle East. The selected interiors are pioneering examples of how new and foreign influences can be absorbed harmoniously into the local architecture and culture whilst retaining the traditional charm.

The Swiss artist Johannes Itten (1888–1967) was not only a pioneering art theorist and a prominent teacher at the Bauhaus, but he also left an extensive and wide-ranging oeuvre which is only known in part today. The lavishly illustrated catalogue raisonné covers comprehensively and presents an appropriate appreciation of the entire range of his artistic oeuvre.

The Japanese artist Koho Mori-Newton is a master when it comes to handling silk, which he places in an exciting dialogue with architecture. In this way he creates cult-like spaces which interact with light in a fascinating way. In addition to the works in silk, this volume also shows various graphic work groups from the last 35 years as well as the Path of Silk, created specially for no intention.

This catalogue, published in conjunction with an accompanying exhibition at the Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto, Canada, presents a selection of more than 200 photographs from the extraordinary and eclectic collection of Howard and Carole Tanenbaum.

Monika Kopplin is leaving and going into retirement after almost thirty years as the Director of the Museum for Lacquer Art. She has contributed in no small measure to the international reputation of the institution. To mark the occasion, the special volume “Lacquer Friends of the World” presents 24 artists from eight nations who have accompanied her over the years.

Frank Gehry and Hans Scharoun never met each other – and yet two of their most famous buildings are closely linked: Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2003) and the Berlin Philharmonie by Scharoun (1963). Taking these buildings as the starting point, the exhibition and catalogue examine the relationship between the two architects.

Abstract paintings were being produced even before Kandinsky. Completely independently from each other, Georgiana Houghton (1814–1884) in England, Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) in Sweden and Emma Kunz (1892–1963) in Switzerland developed an individual, abstract pictorial language. What they had in common was a desire to make visible the laws of nature, the intellect and the supernatural. Their works are being presented side by side for the first time in an exhibition.

Wilhelm Kuhnert was a pioneer. He was one of the first European artists to travel to the largely unexplored savannahs and jungles of the German colonies in North and East Africa. Under hazardous conditions he documented at close quarters the fascinating animal and plant world and then created in his Berlin studio monumental paintings which were much sought-after on the art market.

James Loeb (1867–1933), the son of a German-Jewish banker in New York, followed his artistic and art historical inclinations and used his tremendous financial wealth for the purpose of cultural and social philanthropism. This publication examines the patron’s life and work and outlines his scholarly achievements.