Art of Prehistoric Times

Rock Paintings from the Frobenius Collection

21 January to 16 May 2016
www.berlinerfestspiele.de

In addition to the art of the “primitives” (the term used for indigenous peoples at the time) and the “naives” (children and the mentally ill), the quest for original, unspoilt forms of expression in the 1920s and ‘30s gave rise to a third, often neglected source of inspiration for the development of modern art: prehistoric art, particularly the oldest human art tradition, rock art. Around 100 samples, including many large, wall-sized copies from the Frobenius Institute, as well as photographic and archive material, depict the epic history of rock-art documentation in European caves, the central Sahara, the savannahs of Zimbabwe, and the Australian outback.

From Hockney to Holbein. The Würth Collection in Berlin

11 September 2015 to 10 January 2016
http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/

The Würth Collection is one of the largest private collections in Europe, containing more than 16,800 works of art. The most important of the classic modern artists are represented, as well as masterpieces from the Middle Ages and classic works of contemporary art. The unusual exhibition is a gain for the Kunstherbst Berlin. With more than 400 works of art of international significance, the collection will be presented to the public in a scope never previously seen, in an exhibition space of 5,000 square meters.read more

Organizer Museum Würth and Berliner Festspiele / Martin-Gropius-Bau

Piet Mondrian. The Line

4 September to 6 December 2015
http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de

With his characteristic compositions of rectangles and black lines, Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) is regarded as one of the founders of abstract painting. He is considered to be a master of the composition of coloured areas. Through his method of strict reduction to the basic elements of painting, Mondrian created icons of classic modernism. A lesser-known fact, however, is that Mondrian started out by creating paintings in the impressionist style of the Hague School and explored different styles of art before lines and the organisation of image areas dominated his artistic creations. A new exhibition developed by the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag in cooperation with the Martin-Gropius-Bau now endeavours to illustrate this development in Mondrian’s works.

Ai Weiwei – Evidence

3 April to 7 July 2014
http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de

Despite all the incredible hostility shown him in his own country Ai Weiwei decided to put on his largest one-man exhibition yet in Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau. On 3,000 square metres in 18 rooms and the spectacular Lichthof he will be displaying works and installations which were either designed for the Martin-Gropius-Bau or have not yet been shown in Germany.

The name he has given to his exhibition is “Evidence”, a term well known beyond the English-speaking world from American TV crime series in the meaning of proof that will stand up in court. It is a political exhibition that Ai Weiwei has designed for Berlin in his simple and spacious studio in the rural outskirts of Beijing