Museum Gunzenhauser
27. Apr 2025 – 10. Aug 2025

European Realities

European Realities
Realism Movements of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe

The exhibition is the first to be devoted to the various realist movements that were visible almost everywhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It tells of poverty and misery, of economic boom and cultural prosperity, of scientific and technical progress, of the big city and nightlife, of emancipation and diversity. Never before has this artistic period been presented on such a large scale.

The exhibition brings together artists from northern, central, south-eastern, southern and western Europe, presenting artistic networks that transcend national borders. It builds on Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub’s eponymous presentation of New Objectivity in 1925, which, after Mannheim and Dresden, was also shown at today’s Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz in Chemnitz. European Realities combines the local tradition with pan-European realist tendencies. The realism of the 1920s and 1930s not only has many names, such as Nuovo Realismo, Realismo mágico, Pittura metafisica, Novecento, Neue Sachlichkeit, Neoclassicism, Magical Realism, Neorealisme, Nové realismy and many more. It is also rooted in different countries and has many faces. With some 300 works coming from 20 countries, the exhibition not only presents a European panorama, but also shows how artistic approaches spread and develop through the transfer and migration of ideas.

The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue, edited by Anja Richter and Florence Thurmes
with texts by K. Arvidsson, N. Barenys, M. Colner, J. Dijkstra, C. Drobe, A. Habánová, E. Kļaviņš, L. Magaš Bilandžić, A. Manicka, K. Nowakowska-Sito, S. Dolores Puente Matos, P. Prelog, A. Redondo Plaza,  R. Stamm, P. Strożek, C. Théault, N. Tsvetanova Zhivkova, A. Zwickl

Supported by

Gallery

William Roberts, Les Routiers, um 1931, Öl auf Leinwand, National Museums NI, Ulster Museum © Estate of John David Roberts. By permission of the Treasury Solicitor, Ulster Museum Collection William Roberts
Les Routiers, um 1931
Kiril Tsonev , Портрет на Светослав Минков, 1939, Sofia City Art Gallery, Foto: Svetla Georgieva Kiril Tsonev
Портрет на Светослав Минков, 1939
Cata Dujšin-Ribar , Autoportret s crvenim rupcem, 1930, GALERIJA UMJETNINA, Foto: Robert Matić Cata Dujšin-Ribar
Autoportret s crvenim rupcem, 1930
Sven Otto Lindström , Ann Lindström, 1926 , Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Donation 1970 from Ann (Lindström) Gabrielsson Sven Otto Lindström
Ann Lindström, 1926
Petras Kalpokas , Moteris su Kamuoliu, ca. 1933, Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Foto: Antanas Lukšėnas Petras Kalpokas
Moteris su Kamuoliu, ca. 1933
Arthur Riedel, Frau mit Wasserball, 1932, Sammlung Suter, Basel Arthur Riedel
Frau mit Wasserball, 1932
Ekaterina Savova-Nenova , Портрет на Живка Тодорова, Sofia City Art Gallery, Foto: Svetla Georgieva Ekaterina Savova-Nenova
Портрет на Живка Тодорова
Otto Dix (1891–1969), Rothaarige Frau (Damenporträt), 1931, Mischtechnik auf Leinwand auf Tischlerplatte, 60,8 x 36,6 cm, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Museum Gunzenhauser, Eigentum der Stiftung Gunzenhauser, Chemnitz, Foto: Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz/PUNCTUM/Bertram Kober © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024 Otto Dix (1891–1969)
Rothaarige Frau (Damenporträt), 1931
William Roberts, Les Routiers, um 1931, Öl auf Leinwand, National Museums NI, Ulster Museum © Estate of John David Roberts. By permission of the Treasury Solicitor, Ulster Museum Collection
William Roberts
Les Routiers, um 1931
Kiril Tsonev , Портрет на Светослав Минков, 1939, Sofia City Art Gallery, Foto: Svetla Georgieva
Kiril Tsonev
Портрет на Светослав Минков, 1939
Cata Dujšin-Ribar , Autoportret s crvenim rupcem, 1930, GALERIJA UMJETNINA, Foto: Robert Matić
Cata Dujšin-Ribar
Autoportret s crvenim rupcem, 1930
Sven Otto Lindström , Ann Lindström, 1926 , Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Donation 1970 from Ann (Lindström) Gabrielsson
Sven Otto Lindström
Ann Lindström, 1926
Petras Kalpokas , Moteris su Kamuoliu, ca. 1933, Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Foto: Antanas Lukšėnas
Petras Kalpokas
Moteris su Kamuoliu, ca. 1933
Arthur Riedel, Frau mit Wasserball, 1932, Sammlung Suter, Basel
Arthur Riedel
Frau mit Wasserball, 1932
Ekaterina Savova-Nenova , Портрет на Живка Тодорова, Sofia City Art Gallery, Foto: Svetla Georgieva
Ekaterina Savova-Nenova
Портрет на Живка Тодорова
Otto Dix (1891–1969), Rothaarige Frau (Damenporträt), 1931, Mischtechnik auf Leinwand auf Tischlerplatte, 60,8 x 36,6 cm, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Museum Gunzenhauser, Eigentum der Stiftung Gunzenhauser, Chemnitz, Foto: Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz/PUNCTUM/Bertram Kober © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
Otto Dix (1891–1969)
Rothaarige Frau (Damenporträt), 1931

Dates European Realities

more events