2024

2023 Wolf­gang Hahn Prize: Fran­cis Alÿs
11/18/2023 – 4/7/2024

Fran­­cis Alÿs re­­ceived the 2023 Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize from the Ge­sellschaft für Mod­­erne Kunst am Mu­se­um Lud­wig. The Mex­i­­co Ci­­ty–based artist (b. 1959 in An­tw­erp) studied ar­chi­tec­­ture and ur­ban plan­n­ing and be­­gan work­ing for lo­­cal NGOs there in 1986, be­­fore start­ing his ar­tis­tic ca­reer in 1990. As is cus­­to­­mary, the prize en­­tails the ac­qui­si­­tion of a work for the col­lec­­tion of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig. Fran­­cis Alÿs’s un­ti­­tled two-part work is part of the so-called Sign Pain­t­ing Pro­­ject (1993–1997). It was on show in a pre­sen­­ta­­tion from Novem­ber 18, 2023 to April 7, 2024. more

1000 … miles to the edge – Kasper König Do­na­tion
11/11/2023 – 3/17/2024

As an ex­hi­bi­­tion or­­ganiz­er, co­­foun­der of Skulp­­tur Pro­­jekte Mün­ster, cu­ra­­tor of the ma­jor ex­hi­bi­­tions West­­kunst and von hi­er aus as well as Man­i­fes­­ta in St. Peter­s­burg, Kasper König played an in­­­com­­para­ble role in shap­ing art dis­­­course over the past five de­­cades. He was di­rec­­tor of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig for twelve years (2000–12). In his view, a mu­se­um is a public place: “It be­­longs to ev­ery­one and no one.” König was do­­nat­ing a se­lec­­tion of works from his pri­­vate col­lec­­tion to the Mu­se­um Lud­wig, which was pre­sen­t­ed in one room within the mu­se­um’s per­­ma­­nent col­lec­­tion. more

Walde Huth. Ma­te­rial and Fashion
9/23/2023 – 3/3/2024

Ger­­man pho­­to­g­ra­pher Walde Huth (1923–2011) spent her en­tire ca­reer ex­­plor­ing tex­tiles and fab­rics. Start­ing with com­mis­­sions in the ear­­ly 1950s, in­­­clud­ing those from the vel­vet fac­­to­ry Gottlieb Ott Sohn, she was able to en­ter the in­­ter­­na­­tio­n­al world of fashion as a pho­­to­g­ra­pher, work­ing with de­sign­ers of the “New Look” such as Chris­­tian Dior and Jac­ques Fath. more

Col­lec­tion Pre­sen­ta­tion: Pab­lo Pi­cas­so Suite 156 with Kubra Khade­mi
10/28/2023 – 2/4/2024

April 8, 2023, marked the fifti­eth an­niver­sary of Pab­­lo Pi­­cas­­so’s death. Nu­mer­ous ex­hi­bi­­tions in Eu­­rope and the Unit­ed States were cele­brat­ing this ju­­bilee by in­­tro­­duc­ing Pi­­cas­­so’s work to to­­day’s au­di­ences un­der the ban­n­er of The Pi­­cas­­so 1973–2023 Cele­bra­­tion. The hold­ings of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig in­­­clude the third-largest col­lec­­tion of Pi­­cas­­sos in the world, and it was par­ti­­ci­­pat­ing in the an­niver­sary year with a pre­sen­­ta­­tion from the Graph­ic Col­lec­­tions: Suite 156, a late work by the artist, con­­sist­ing of 155 etch­ings from be­tween 1968 and 1972. The pre­sen­­ta­­tion of the se­ries of etch­ings was com­­ple­­men­t­ed by a new piece by con­tem­po­rary Afghan artist Kubra Khade­­mi (b. 1989 in Ghor, Afghanis­­tan). more

Fü­sun Onur: Ret­ro­spec­tive
9/16/2023 – 1/28/2024

Fü­­sun Onur, who was born in Is­­tan­bul in 1938 and cur­ren­t­­ly based there, is one of the most out­­s­­tand­ing artists work­ing in Türkiye to­­day. Al­though her im­pres­­sive and varied oeu­vre has been read­­i­­ly ac­ces­si­ble to an in­­ter­­na­­tio­n­al au­di­ence in group ex­hi­bi­­tions on a reg­u­lar ba­­sis, it has not been suf­­fi­­cien­t­­ly ap­pre­­ci­at­ed. The first sur­vey ex­hi­bi­­tion of her work was held at Arter in Is­­tan­bul, ten years ago. The Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sen­t­ed her work to a larg­er au­di­ence in a ma­jor ret­ro­spec­­tive. more

2023

HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig. Mod­er­nism in Ukraine 1900-1930s & Daria Koltso­va
6/3 – 9/24/2023

The ex­hi­bi­tion se­ries HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig chal­lenges the con­ven­tions of mu­se­um work from to­day’s per­spec­tive. Rus­sia’s war against Ukraine changes our ap­proach to­ward the con­cept of “Rus­sian avant-garde”. Many artists – al­­so in the Mu­se­um Lud­wig col­lec­­tion – who are as­­so­­ci­at­ed with this art move­­ment came from Ukraine or shaped Ukrai­­nian cul­­ture. The ex­hi­bi­tion ded­i­cat­ed to mod­er­nism in Ukraine brought to­gether some eigh­ty paint­ings and works on pa­per cre­at­ed be­tween the 1900s and 1930s. This new art-his­­tor­i­­cal per­spec­­tive was ex­­pand­ed with a con­tri­bu­­tion by the con­tem­po­rary artist Daria Kolt­­so­­va. She pre­sent­ed a work that deals with the cul­­tu­r­al her­i­­tage in the face of war. more

Im­age/Coun­ter­i­m­age: Tar­rah Kra­j­nak, VA­LIE EX­PORT, San­ja Iveković, Ana Mendi­e­ta, Car­rie Mae Weems
4/22 – 8/27/2023

The point of de­­­par­­­ture for the Pho­­­tog­ra­­­phy Room pre­sen­­­ta­­­tion was the work Mas­ter Ri­t­u­als II: We­s­t­on Nudes by the artist Tar­rah Kra­j­­­nak. It was com­bined with works by VA­LIE EX­­­PORT, San­­­ja Ive­­­cov­­­ić, Ana Men­di­e­­­ta, and Car­rie Mae Weems. Cre­at­ed over a pe­ri­od of fif­­­ty years be­tween 1972 and 2021, the se­lec­t­ed works are unit­ed in their use of per­­­for­­­ma­­­tive and pho­­­to­­­graph­ic ap­proach­es that in­­­­­clude the artists’ own bodies. more

Ur­su­la—That's Me. So What?
3/18 – 7/23/2023

Ur­­su­la Schultze-Bluhm, who is known sim­p­­ly as Ur­­su­la, was one of the most im­­por­­tant Ger­­man artists of the se­­cond half of the twen­ti­eth cen­­tu­ry. She was born in Mit­ten­walde, Ger­­many, in 1921 and died in Cologne in 1999. Mu­se­um Lud­wig’s ex­hi­bi­­tion Ur­­su­la—That’s Me. So What?, which is the first com­pre­hen­­sive mu­se­um show on the artist in over thir­­ty years, of­fers a fresh look at her oeu­vre. more

2022 Wolf­gang Hahn Prize: Frank Bowl­ing
11/16/2022 – 3/19/2023

Frank Bowl­ing (b.1934, Bar­ti­­ca, Guya­­na) was award­ed the 2022 Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize by the Ge­sellschaft für Mod­­erne Kunst am Mu­se­um Lud­wig. The award cer­e­­mony al­ways al­­so in­­­cludes an ac­qui­si­­tion for the col­lec­­tion of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig. Thanks to the artist’s generos­i­­ty, the 2022 Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize marked the first ac­qui­si­­tion of one of his works for a public col­lec­­tion in Ger­­many. Frank Bowl­ing's pain­t­ing Flog­ging the Dead Don­key (2020) be­­came part of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig col­lec­­tion. more

Kiss, kiss. In me­mo­ri­am Lady Re­nate Gru­ber
12/3/2022 – 3/12/2023

On Oc­to­ber 30, 2022, pho­tog­ra­phy col­lec­tor Re­nate Gru­ber passed away. The Mu­se­um Lud­wig bade her farewell with a pre­sen­ta­tion in the Pho­tog­ra­phy Room. Works from the Gru­ber Col­lec­tion and Archive were on dis­play to­gether with views of her home, which for many was a sort of in­sti­tu­tion in Cologne. more

HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig. An­ti-colo­nial In­ter­ven­tions
10/8/2022 – 2/5/2023

The eighth pro­­ject in the ex­hi­bi­­tion se­ries HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig em­barked on an an­ti-colo­­nial jour­ney through the per­­ma­­nent col­lec­­tion. To­gether with the artists Daniela Or­­tiz (*1985 in Pe­ru), Pau­la Baeza Pail­amil­la (*1988 in Chile), Pav­el Agui­lar (*1989 in Hon­­duras), and Palo­­ma Ay­ala (*1980 in Mex­i­­co), we took a crit­i­­cal and cu­ri­ous look at ar­tis­tic po­si­­tions from Latin Amer­i­­ca. more

Green Mod­er­nism. The New View of Plants
9/17/2022 – 1/22/2023

What do plants mean to hu­man be­ings? The ex­hi­bi­tion Green Mod­er­nism: The New View of Plants took us back to the ear­ly twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry and ex­amines the de­pic­tion of plants in the vi­su­al arts and how they were viewed in bo­tany and so­ci­e­ty in gen­er­al. Af­ter all, as plain as pott­ed plants in pic­tures may ap­pear at first glance, and as mat­ter-of-fact as bo­tan­i­cal re­ports read, they al­ways al­so attest to the con­tra­dic­tions, fears, long­ings, and ide­olo­gies of the mod­ern age. more

2022

Raghu­bir Singh. Kolka­ta
7/9 – 11/6/2022

The In­­­dian pho­­to­g­ra­pher Raghu­bir Singh (1942–1999) re­­peat­ed­­ly re­­turned to Kol­ka­­ta (called Cal­­cut­­ta un­til 2001), and over the years he cre­at­ed a com­­plex and mul­ti­lay­ered pho­­to­­graph­ic por­­trait of the ci­­ty. In this way, the dif­fer­­ent his­­tor­i­­cal lay­ers are equal­­ly rep­re­sen­t­ed in the pho­­to­­graph. Singh’s pho­­to­­graphs are a cos­­mopol­i­­tan’s ho­­mage to a cos­­mopol­i­­tan ci­­ty. In the pho­­tog­ra­­phy room, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sen­t­ed twelve pho­­to­­graphs from Singh’s Cal­­cut­­ta se­ries, which have been part of the col­lec­­tion since 2017. more

Isa­mu Noguchi
3/26 – 7/31/2022

The Mu­se­um Lud­wig host­ed the first com­pre­hen­­sive ret­ro­spec­­tive in Eu­­rope in over twen­­ty years on the Ja­­pa­­nese Amer­i­­can sculp­­tor Isa­­mu Noguchi (b. 1904 in Los An­ge­les, d. 1988 in New York). It cov­­ered all of Noguchi’s cre­a­­tive pe­ri­ods and prac­tices with 150 works and pre­sent him as an ex­per­i­­men­­tal and po­l­it­i­­cal­­ly en­­gaged artist. more

Voiceover: Fe­lice Bea­to in Ja­pan
2/19 – 6/12/2022

In a pre­sen­­ta­­tion in the pho­­tog­ra­­phy room, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig was show­ing hand-col­ored pho­­to­­graphs by the Italian-Bri­tish pho­­to­g­ra­pher Fe­lice Bea­­to. His West­­ern, ex­oti­­ciz­ing view of a by­­gone Ja­­pan, which he re­cre­at­ed in his stu­­dio, were sup­­ple­­men­t­ed in the pre­sen­­ta­­tion with spo­ken com­­men­­tary by Ja­­pa­­nese peo­­ple. more

Pre­sen­ta­tion of the Ger­hard Richter Col­lec­tion
2/1 – 5/1/2022

The Mu­se­um Lud­wig was pre­sen­t­ing a con­­cen­­trat­ed ex­hi­bi­­tion in hon­or of Ger­hard Richter’s nineti­eth birth­­day. From Fe­bruary 1 to May 1, 2022, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig showed a se­lec­­tion of five works by Ger­hard Richter (born Fe­bruary 9, 1932) from its col­lec­­tion. The ex­hi­bi­­tion fea­­tured fig­u­ra­­tive works de­pic­t­ing peo­­ple and ob­­jects as well as ab­s­­tract pain­t­ings and works com­prised of panes of glass and mir­rors. more

2021 Wolf­gang-Hahn-Prize: Mar­cel Oden­bach
11/17/2021 – 2/20/2022

Mar­­cel Oden­bach (*1953 in Cologne) was award­ed the 2021 Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize by the Ge­sellschaft für Mod­­erne Kunst. The award cer­e­­mony al­ways al­­so in­­­cludes an ac­qui­si­­tion for the col­lec­­tion of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig. Thanks to Mar­­cel Oden­bach’s generos­i­­ty, the Ge­sellschaft für Mod­­erne Kunst am Mu­se­um Lud­wig ac­quired his unique Sch­nittvor­la­­gen for the 2021 Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize, which were shown in the ex­hi­bi­tion. more

HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig: to­gether for and against it
11/13/2021 – 2/13/2022

With the ex­hi­bi­­tion to­gether for and against it, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig was fo­­cus­ing on po­si­­tions of con­tem­po­rary art in Ja­­pan and their his­­tor­i­­cal pre­de­ces­­sors. A start­ing point is the con­sid­er­a­­tion of the Ja­­pa­­nese avant-garde in the 1960s from to­­day’s per­spec­­tives. What de­vel­op­­ments in the post-war pe­ri­od did artists re­act to at the time? What mo­ti­­vat­ed their sen­sa­­tio­n­al public per­­for­­mances? What moves the artist col­lec­­tive Chim↑Pom and the artist Ko­­ki Ta­­na­­ka to­­day, and how do they re­late to this his­­tor­i­­cal move­­ment? more

Pi­cas­so Shared and Di­vid­ed: The Artist and His Im­age in East and West Ger­many
9/25/2021 – 1/30/2022

What do we as­­so­­ci­ate with Pab­­lo Pi­­cas­­so? And what as­­so­­ci­a­­tions with him did the Ger­­man peo­­ple have in mind dur­ing the post-war years, when he was at the height of his fame? Far more than we do: This was the main idea of the ex­hi­bi­­tion, which re­veals a for­­got­ten breadth, ten­­sion, and pro­­duc­­tiv­i­­ty of th­ese ap­pro­pri­a­­tions. It dealt not on­­ly with the artist, but with his au­di­ence, which in­­ter­pret­ed Pi­­cas­­so’s art in very dif­fer­­ent ways in the cap­i­­tal­ist West and in the so­­cial­ist East. The Ger­­man Pi­­cas­­so was di­vid­ed, but this di­vi­­sion al­­so sti­m­u­lat­ed the re­­cep­­tion: Be­­cause ev­ery­one ques­­tioned his art, it had some­thing to say for ev­ery­one. more

Au­gust & Marta: How Au­gust San­der Pho­to­graphed the Pain­ter Mar­ta Hege­mann (and Her Chil­dren’s Room!)
10/16/2021 – 1/23/2022

With this pre­sen­­ta­­tion in the pho­­tog­ra­­phy room, we have at­temp­t­ed to make a 1929 chil­­dren’s room tan­gi­ble for vis­i­­tor for which Mar­­ta Hege­­mann had cre­at­ed sev­er­al wall pain­t­ings. Ex­­cept for pho­­to­­graphs tak­en by Au­­gust San­der, no traces of them have sur­­vived to­­day. Com­­ple­­men­t­ed by por­­traits and works on pa­per by Hege­­mann we try to of­fer in­­sight in­­­to her de­signs for the mu­rals, and young vis­i­­tors are ex­­plic­it­­ly in­­vit­ed to ex­­plore them. more

Boaz Kaiz­man: Green Area
3/9/2021 – 1/16/2022

On the an­niver­sary year “2021: 1700 Years of Jew­­ish Life in Ger­­many,” the Mu­se­um Lud­wig has in­­vit­ed the artist Boaz Kaiz­­man (born in 1962 in Tel Aviv, has lived and worked in Cologne since 1993) to de­vel­op a new work. The video in­­s­­tal­la­­tion Grü­­nan­lage (Green Area) com­pris­es six­­teen new videos in sev­en large pro­­jec­­tions across two walls. It will be pre­sen­t­ed in the large ex­hi­bi­­tion hall at the Mu­se­um Lud­wig span­n­ing around 200 square me­ters. more

2021

In Si­tu: Pho­to Sto­ries on Mi­gra­tion
6/19 – 10/3/2021

Pho­­to­­graphs of Cologne and other ci­ties in the Rhine­­land from the pe­ri­od be­tween 1955 and 1989 vi­­su­al­ize the con­s­­tant changes brought about by the re­si­­dents. Yet the sto­ries of mi­­grant work­ers in pho­­tog­ra­­phy are bare­­ly pre­sent in the public vi­­su­al me­m­o­ry of th­ese ci­ties. For the first time, this ex­hi­bi­­tion at the Mu­se­um Lud­wig will fo­­cus on per­­so­n­al pho­­to­­graphs. An im­­por­­tant start­ing point is doc­u­­ments of sto­ries of mi­­gra­­tion from DO­MiD. In in­­ter­views, the len­ders of the works in the ex­hi­bi­­tion talk about their di­­verse his­­to­ries. more

Sisi in Pri­vate: The Em­press’s Pho­to Al­bums
10/24/2020 – 9/19/2021

Like many up­­per-class wo­m­en of her time, Elis­a­­beth of Aus­­tria-Hun­­gary, known as Sisi, col­lec­t­ed por­­trait pho­­to­­graphs in the 1860s—it was in vogue. The Mu­se­um Lud­wig holds eigh­­teen of her al­bums with some 2000 pho­­to­­graphs in carte de visite for­­mat—pho­­to­­graphs moun­t­ed on card­board around six by nine cen­­time­ters in size. They show mem­bers of the no­­bil­i­­ty—­­many of them from Elis­a­­beth’s fam­i­­ly—as well as cele­bri­ties and art­­works. more

2020 Wolf­gang Hahn Prize: Be­tye Saar
6/1/2020 – 9/12/2021

For more than fif­ty years, Be­tye Saar has cre­at­ed as­sem­blages from a wide va­ri­e­ty of found ob­jects, which she com­bines with draw­ing, prints, paint­ing, and pho­tog­ra­phy. The Ge­sellschaft für Mod­erne Kunst am Mu­se­um Lud­wig purchased the as­sem­blage The Di­vine Face from 1971 to­gether with the Mu­se­um Lud­wig for the mu­se­um’s col­lec­tion as part of the prize award­ed to Be­tye Saar. The work will be pre­sent­ed in the mu­se­um’s col­lec­tion along with two etch­ings re­cent­ly ac­quired through the “Per­len­such­er am Mu­se­um Lud­wig” ini­tia­tive as well as a col­lage, an artist’s book and the film Be­tye Saar: Tak­ing Care of Busi­ness. more

Andy Warhol Now
12/12/2020 – 6/13/2021

Andy Warhol is in­­dis­­putab­­ly the best-known rep­re­sen­­ta­­tive of Pop Art. His icon­ic sub­­­jects such as Mar­i­­lyn, the Cam­pell’s soup can, and Co­­ca-Co­la bot­­tles are part of the col­lec­­tive me­m­o­ry. Thir­­ty years af­ter his last ret­ro­spec­­tive in Cologne, Andy Warhol Now pre­sents Andy Warhol as an artist whose in­­no­­va­­tive work can be re­dis­­­cov­­ered, es­­pe­­cial­­ly for a young gen­er­a­­tion in the age of mi­­gra­­tion and so­­cial di­ver­si­­ty.

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Rus­sian Avant-Garde at the Mu­se­um Lud­wig: Orig­i­nal and Fake Ques­tions, Re­search, Ex­pla­na­tions
9/26/2020 – 5/2/2021

With a stu­­dio ex­hi­bi­­tion on the Rus­sian avant-garde, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig is pre­sen­t­ing re­search on the au­then­tic­i­­ty of works in its col­lec­­tion. Thanks to Peter and Irene Lud­wig, in ad­di­­tion to Pop Art and Pi­­cas­­so, the Rus­sian avant-garde is a core fo­­cus of the mu­se­um’s col­lec­­tion, with more than 600 works from the pe­ri­od be­tween 1905 and 1930, in­­­clud­ing some 100 pain­t­ings. more

2020

Map­ping the Col­lec­tion
6/20/2020 – 10/11/2020

The ex­hi­bi­tion Map­ping the Col­lec­tion takes a new look at two in­flu­en­tial de­cades in Amer­i­can (art) his­to­ry: the 1960s and 1970s. The ex­hi­bi­tion pre­sents a se­lec­tion of art­works from the Mu­se­um Lud­wig’s col­lec­tion by fe­male, queer, and in­dige­nous artists as well as artists of col­or who are not rep­re­sent­ed in the col­lec­tion, as an im­pe­tus for a broad­er re­cep­tion of Amer­i­can art. more

Joachim Brohm: Ruhr Land­s­capes, 1981-83
6/27/2020 – 9/27/2020

In 2006, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig ac­quired eleven works from the se­ries Ruhr­land­schaften (Ruhr Land­s­capes) by Joachim Brohm (*1955) from be­tween 1981 and 1983. The Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sent­ed th­ese pho­to­graphs in the Pho­tog­ra­phy Room. more

HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig. Dy­nam­ic Spaces
6/6/2020 – 8/30/2020

For the ex­hi­bi­­tion “HERE AND NOW at Mu­se­um Lud­wig: Dy­­nam­ic Spaces”, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig col­lab­o­rat­ed with the plat­­form Con­tem­po­rary And (C&). Found­ed by Ju­lia Grosse and Yvette Mu­­tum­­ba, C& sees it­­self as “a dy­­nam­ic space for is­­sues and in­­­for­­ma­­tion on con­tem­po­rary art from Afri­­ca and its Glob­al Di­as­po­ra. more

Si­lent Ruins
F. A. Op­pen­heim Pho­to­graphs An­tiqui­ty
2/15/2020 – 6/14/2020

The pho­to al­bum “A­the­nien­­sische Al­terthümer” by Fe­lix Alex­an­der Op­pen­heim was ex­hi­b­it­ed for the first time, thus re­veal­ing a mo­­ment in his­­to­ry when the en­thu­si­asm for an­­tiqui­­ty, ear­­ly arche­ol­o­­gy, the politics of sym­bols in Greece, and the strug­­gle for right­­ful own­er­­ship cre­at­ed a con­­text rich in words and im­ages for th­ese si­­lent ruins. more

WADE GUY­TON
ZWEI DEKA­DEN MCMX­CIX–MMX­IX
11/16/2019 – 3/1/2020

Born in 1972, the Amer­i­can artist Wade Guy­ton has cre­at­ed a con­sis­tent and dist­inct oeu­vre for more than two de­cades. Af­ter ac­quir­ing sev­er­al of the artist’s works for the col­lec­tion, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig is host­ing a ma­jor sur­vey ex­hi­bi­tion. more

2019

Fam­i­ly Ties
The Schröder Do­na­tion
7/13–9/29/2019

In the 1990s a new art scene be­­gan to form in Cologne. Alex­an­der Schröder fol­lowed th­ese de­vel­op­­ments from Ber­lin, and be­­gan col­lec­t­ing art from the 1990s and 2000s with his spe­­cial eye. more

Schultze Pro­­jects #1
Wade Guy­­ton
2017–2019

In 2017 the Mu­se­um Lud­wig launched a new pro­­ject se­ries en­ti­­tled "Schultze Pro­­jects" with a five-part work by Wade Guy­­ton cre­at­ed es­­pe­­cial­­ly for this oc­­ca­­sion. more

Ben­jamin Katz: Ber­lin Havel­höhe, 1960/1961
6/7–9/22/2019

On the oc­­ca­­sion of the 80th birth­­day of Ben­­jamin Katz the Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sent­ed his se­ries of pho­­to­­graphs "Ber­lin Havel­höhe (1960/1961)", which has nev­er be­­fore been shown in its en­tire­­ty. The pho­­to­­graphs rep­re­sent a so­­cio-his­­tor­i­­cal as well as an ar­tis­tic and per­­so­n­al doc­u­­ment, since they re­­cord Katz’s be­gin­n­ings as a pho­­to­g­ra­pher. more

Fio­na Tan. GAAF
5/4 – 8/11/2019

The Mu­se­um Lud­wig in­­vit­ed the artist and film­­mak­er Fio­­na Tan to re­al­ize an ex­hi­bi­­tion pro­­ject with the mu­se­um’s pho­­tog­ra­­phy col­lec­­tion as the start­ing point. more

Jac Leirn­er
2019 Wolf­gang Hahn Prize
4/10 – 8/25/2019

In 2019, the Ge­sellschaft für Mod­­erne Kunst am Mu­se­um Lud­wig rec­og­nized Jac Leirn­er with the 25th edi­tion of the Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize. The Brazilian artist has been pur­­su­ing a sub­­­tle anal­y­­sis of so­­cial and rep­re­sen­­ta­­tio­n­al sys­tems for many years. more

Nil Yal­ter
Ex­ile Is a Hard Job
3/9 – 6/2/2019

Since the 1970s, Nil Yal­ter has been work­ing as a pi­oneer of so­­cial­­ly en­­gaged and tech­ni­­cal­­ly ad­­vanced art.The Mu­se­um Lud­wig will host­ed the Turk­ish artist’s first ma­jor sur­vey ex­hi­bi­­tion. more

Alexan­der von Hum­boldt
Pho­tog­ra­phy and Le­ga­cy
10/13/2018 – 2/10/2019

The year 2019 will mark the 250th an­niver­sary of the birth of Alex­an­der von Hum­boldt (1769–1859). The Mu­se­um Lud­wig is tak­ing this an­niver­sary as an oc­­ca­­sion to trace Hum­boldt’s con­nec­­tion to pho­­tog­ra­­phy. more

Gabriele Mün­ter
Paint­ing to the Point
9/15/2018 – 1/13/2019

Her role as a ded­i­­cat­ed pro­po­­nent, me­di­a­­tor, and long­­time com­­panion of Wass­i­­ly Kand­in­sky is well known and rec­og­nized. This ex­hi­bi­­tion de­­mon­s­­trat­ed Gabriele Mün­ter’s im­­por­­tance and in­­de­pen­­dence as a pain­ter. more

2018

Pho­to­g­ra­pher's Name
Aenne Bier­mann
6/16 – 9/30/2018

Aenne Bi­er­­mann (1898–1933) took pho­­to­­graphs of her im­me­di­ate sur­round­in­gs from 1925 un­til her ear­­ly death, and this body of work helped shape mod­­er­nist pho­­tog­ra­­phy. more

Wern­er Mantz
Ar­chi­tec­tures and Peo­ple
10/14/2017 – 1/21/2018

Wern­er Mantz is known as one of the most promi­nent pho­to­g­ra­phers of the Neues Bauen move­ment of mod­er­nist ar­chi­tec­ture in Cologne dur­ing the 1920s. In a se­cond cre­a­tive pe­ri­od he re­turned to por­trait pho­tog­ra­phy. . more

2017

Ger­hard Richter: New Paint­ings
2/9–5/1/2017

The ex­hi­bi­­tion Ger­hard Richter: New Paint­ings pre­sent­ed new ab­s­­tract pain­t­in­gs cre­at­ed in 2016 along­­side works from the col­lec­­tion of the Mu­se­um Lud­wig by Richter more

Ot­to Fre­undlich: Cos­mic Com­mu­nism
2/18–5/14/2017

In a big ret­ro­spec­tive, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sent­ed one of the most orig­i­nal ab­s­tract artists of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry: Ot­to Fre­undlich (1878–1943) more

Tr­isha Don­nel­ly: 2017 Wolf­gang Hahn Prize
4/25–8/31/2017

The Ge­sellschaft für Mod­­erne Kunst am Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sent­ed the 2017 Wolf­­gang Hahn Prize to Tr­isha Don­nel­­ly. With this prize, the or­­gani­za­­­tion rec­og­nized the ex­­traor­d­i­­nary oeu­vre of the artist more

Art in­to Life! Col­lec­tor Wolf­gang Hahn and the 60s
6/24–9/24/2017

In the 1960s, the Rhine­­land al­ready was an im­­por­­tant cen­ter for a rev­o­lu­­tio­­nary oc­cur­rence in art. In touch with the lat­est trends of this ex­c­it­ing pe­ri­od, Wolf­­gang Hahn (1924–1987) be­­gan ac­quir­ing this new art and cre­at­ed a mul­ti­­facet­ed col­lec­­tion more

2016

Fer­nand Léger: Paint­ing in Space
04/09–07/03/2016

The first ret­ro­spec­­tive that fo­­cus­es on Fer­­­nand Léger’s mu­rals, cast­ing a new light on one of the most di­­verse and in­­flu­en­­tial artists of mod­­er­nism. more

2015

Bernard Schultze

Ber­nard Schultze. A Cen­ten­nial Ex­hi­bi­tion
05/30–11/22/2015

Ber­­nard Schultze (1915–2005) was a lead­­ing ex­po­­nent of ges­­tu­ral ab­s­­tract pain­t­ing in Eu­­rope. The Mu­se­um Lud­wig is pay­ing ho­­mage to him on the cen­ten­­nial of his birth. more

Danh Võ, We the People, Armpit, 2011-2013, installation view, Museum Ludwig Köln © Danh Vo

Danh Võ. Ydob eht ni mraw si ti
08/01–10/25/2015

The Viet­namese artist Danh Võ is pre­sent­ing his most well-known long-term pro­ject 'We The Peo­ple', amongst other works more

Al­i­bis: Sig­mar Polke.
Ret­ro­spec­tive
03/14–07/05/2015

For the first time, all the me­­dia with which the artist en­­gaged in­­ten­­sive­­ly through­out his ca­reer are brought to­gether in one ex­hi­bi­­tion, with works dat­ing from 1963 through 2010. more

2014

In­tractable and Un­tamed: Doc­u­men­tary Pho­tog­ra­phy around 1979

06/28–11/16/2014

The ex­hi­bi­tion shows works by 15 artists who fol­lowed a doc­u­men­tary ap­proach in their pho­tog­ra­phy in the so-called cri­sis de­cades af­ter 1979 more

Os­car Tu­a­zon.
Alone in an emp­ty room
02/14–07/13/2014

Os­car Tu­a­zon has re­al­ized a site-spe­cif­ic in­s­tal­la­tion at the Mu­se­um Lud­wig, re­buld­ing parts of a pri­vate home in­side the mu­se­um's wide open stair­case more

Pierre Huyghe
04/11–07/13/2014

Pierre Huyghe has trans­formed the ex­hi­bi­tion space in­to a whole world of its own, bring­ing to­gether liv­ing sys­tems, ob­­jects, films, pho­­to­­graphs, draw­ings, and mu­sic more

Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln/Museum Ludwig/Britta Schlier

LUD­WIG GOES POP
10/01/2014–1/11/2015

Peter and Irene Lud­wig brought Pop Art to Ger­­many. The ex­hi­bi­tion brings it to­gether in a large sur­vey ex­hi­bi­­tion with works from the other Lud­wig Mu­se­ums around the world more

An­drea Bütt­n­er. 2
09/15/2014–03/15/2015

2 – the ti­tle is the agen­da. The largest room in the mu­se­um is di­vid­ed in­to two parts, one light and the other dark, show­ing re­cent works range­ing from prints, wood­cuts, phot­graphs, to a large-scale video-in­s­tal­la­tion more

2013

© Jo Baer, photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln / Britta Schlier

Jo Baer
05/25–08/25/2013

From 24 May through 25 Au­gust 2013, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig show­cased - as the first ev­er Ger­man in­sti­tu­tion to do so - the US Amer­i­can artist Jo Baer (b.1929 in Seat­tle, lives since 1984 in Am­s­ter­dam) in a so­lo ex­hi­bi­tion more

© Shady Lane Productions, Foto: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln / Britta Schlier

Phil Collins. In ev­ery dream home a hear­tache
04/21–07/21/2013

At the heart of Phil Collins' work is the in­di­vi­d­u­al in our me­dia so­ci­e­ty. A new com­pre­hen­sive pro­ject has been cre­at­ed es­pe­cial­ly for the Mu­se­um Lud­wig more

© The Saul Steinberg Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2013, Foto: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln / Leon Sinowenka

Saul Stein­berg. The Amer­i­cans
03/23–06/23/2013

The Mu­se­um Lud­wig pre­sents the com­plete mu­ral-col­lage cre­at­ed by Saul Stein­berg for EX­PO 58 in Brus­sels for the first time since its en­tire­ty more

2012

Abbildung Kriwet

Kriwet
12/23/2011–07/08/2012

Graph­ic works and au­dio plays by Ger­man artist Fer­d­i­nand Kri­wet more

Abbildung Vor dem Gesetz

Be­fore the Law
12/17/2011–04/22/2012

The para­ble “Be­fore the Law” by Franz Kaf­ka (1915) serves as a guid­ing mo­tif for this ex­hi­bi­tion idea more

Foto: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln / Peter Kunz

In Me­m­o­ry of Irene Lud­wig
11/29/2011–06/24/2012

On the oc­ca­sion of the first an­niver­sary of her pass­ing, the Mu­se­um Lud­wig has in­s­talled a room with works from the pri­vate resi­dence of Peter and Irene Lud­wig more

© Cosima von Bonin, Courtesy Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne/Berlin Foto: Lothar Schnepf

Cosi­ma von Bonin
CUT! CUT! CUT!
11/05/2011–05/13/2012

The Mu­se­um Lud­wig is pre­sent­ing an ex­hi­bi­tion of the artist Cosi­ma von Bonin, which will de­vel­op as a 'Work in Progress' in four Eu­ro­pean ci­ties more