© © Annette Kelm (Foto: Nils Thies)

From 8 July 2022 to 8 January 2023, the Bundesbank's art collection was on display at the Giersch Museum at Goethe University (MGGU) in Frankfurt am Main. Entitled ‘Ortswechsel’ (Change of location), this first museum presentation of the important central bank collection provided a striking overview of the collection from the 1950s to the present day with a selection of 85 works of art. These included works by artists such as Georg Baselitz, Rupprecht Geiger, Isa Genzken, Katharina Grosse, Ernst Wilhelm Nay and Jorinde Voigt.

Art collection reflects the history of the Federal Republic of Germany

© © Courtesy Galerie Buchholz Berlin/Cologne/New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022 Foto: Nils Thies

The beginnings of the collection, which now numbers several thousand works and is spread across the Bundesbank's various locations throughout Germany, date back to the 1950s and the acquisition of young informal artists such as Karl Otto Götz and Heinz Kreutz. In the following decades, the collection was gradually expanded to include contemporary positions. The acquisition of paintings, graphic works, works on paper, sculptures and the occasional photograph also reflects the history of the Federal Republic of Germany: the collection focusses on art from German-speaking countries; after reunification in 1990, artists from the East German federal states were added to the collection.

Artistic dialogues and areas of tension

© MGGU / Uwe Dettmar

The thematic arrangement in the rooms of the MGGU creates unusual dialogues and areas of tension. Themes such as ‘Continuation of the Gestural’, ‘Absolute Colour’ or ‘History and Stories’ throw surprising spotlights on the works through the confrontation of contemporary and historical artistic positions: a work by Anne Imhof with gestural scratches in acrylic paint on aluminium meets Arnulf Rainer's ‘overpaintings’. Rupprecht Geiger's bright red colour field meets Monica Baer's ironically connoted works. In her examination of German history, Anselm Kiefer's archaising imagery is juxtaposed with Annette Kelm's conceptual photographs. Visitors are invited to engage in these dialogues and enter into conversation with each other. The museum is also presenting two rooms specially designed for the exhibition with new works by Michael Riedel and Frauke Dannert - both of whom are also represented in the Deutsche Bundesbank's art collection.

Finally, numerous photographs refer to the ‘change of location’ of the art. They show the art in the context of the Bundesbank's offices, corridors and meeting rooms. In a short film produced especially for the exhibition, the employees of the Bundesbank themselves have their say: this makes it possible to experience how the works of art characterise the rooms on site and enrich everyday working life.