The Jena Art Collection is currently presenting an extraordinary exhibition featuring East German art, showcasing more than 300 works by nearly 150 artists until November 16. The exhibition, titled "SO VIEL SILBER IM GRAU. Kunst aus der DDR" (So Much Silver in Gray: Art from the GDR), displays pieces in a Petersburg-style hanging arrangement, emphasizing the intimate, private nature of art collecting during the communist era.
Curator Erik Stephan deliberately chose this presentation format to highlight the personal aspect of art collection. In many art enthusiasts' homes before 1990, graphics and paintings hung side by side and one above another, creating living spaces where residents truly lived with the artwork. "It was important for me to show the diversity of artistic approaches, the breadth of what was possible despite official guidelines," Stephan explained, calling it "an exhibition of superlatives."
Among the notable works displayed is Arno Rink's graphic cycle "Revolution and Freedom Songs" from 1984, which was created to commemorate an anniversary of the October Revolution. Rather than depicting victorious heroes who selflessly sacrificed themselves for a new society, the Leipzig artist revealed the ambivalence of political struggles within historical context, showing doubts, defeats, and individual fates. The lithographs were based on texts by renowned authors including Pablo Neruda and Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Another significant piece is a graphic portfolio titled "For Bread and Peace" from 1967, which united works by Joachim John, Ronald Paris, Karl-Georg Hirsch, Christine Perthen, and other artists. These works subtly rebelled against official expectations and encoded their messages in sophisticated ways. Werner Tübke addressed a taboo subject in his untitled painting, featuring a naked young man covering his shame with clothing draped over his arm, his desiring gaze directed toward a boy who looks at the viewer. The scene is set in a historicized, Arcadian environment, with baroque cornucopias emphasizing the theme of desire.
Many works in the approximately 3,000-piece collection were acquired by the institution's former director, Maria Schmid, who purchased them directly from artists in their studios. Through her connections, she was able to acquire significant paintings and graphic portfolios. She first saw Horst Sakulowski's "Portrait After Service" (1976) in a small Berlin exhibition and was able to purchase it after a phone conversation with the artist. It was a triumph for Schmid when this later-famous painting of an exhausted female doctor was loaned for the VIII Art Exhibition in Dresden. Today, "Portrait After Service" is among the most sought-after paintings for exhibitions both domestically and internationally.
The Jena exhibition also focuses attention on lesser-known artists who maintained independent positions in the seclusion of the Thuringian province. The barely known painter Emma Hübner, who left East Germany in 1965, is presented with several paintings. Her still lifes featuring vessels demonstrate a unique poetic language that transcends time. Another featured artist, Weimar painter Horst Peter Meyer, has not forgotten how difficult it was to maintain artistic integrity despite being a member of the Association of Visual Artists (VBK), where he faced insidious hostility.
After receiving criticism that his works did not address the problems of the working class, Meyer and his artist friends took the theme literally. In the exhibition "PainterWork," he displayed several paintings, including "Excavation." This completely outraged cultural functionaries and led to a damaging campaign aimed at disqualifying him. The painting, which was submitted to the Dresden Art Exhibition and then disappeared, was eventually rescued and found its way to the Jena Art Collection through various channels. "Excavation" stands as a metaphor for the 1980s, when many hopes dissolved.
Local artist Lothar Zitzmann created a work that was unparalleled throughout the republic. With his succinct realism, he developed his own unmistakable visual language that dealt with the figure in space, similar to attempts made primarily at the Bauhaus by Oskar Schlemmer. Zitzmann introduced generations of designers at Burg Giebichenstein to the fundamentals of their craft. The Jena exhibition displays several works from various phases of his career, demonstrating the breadth and evolution of his artistic vision.
The exhibition runs Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM at the Jena Art Collection, located at Markt 7 in Jena, and will continue until November 16. This comprehensive display represents one of the most significant presentations of East German art, offering visitors an unprecedented opportunity to experience the diversity and complexity of artistic expression that flourished despite political constraints.
