Saturday, 1 December 2018, 02–05 pm

The Archive Stories on December 1, 2018, deal with one of the most significant exhibitions of the 1930s in Bern: the retrospective Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, held from March 4 to April 17, 1933, at the Kunsthalle Bern and comprising close to 300 works, including 105 paintings, by the artist who had been living in Davos since 1917. The exhibition was thus the largest solo show presented during the lifetime of Kirchner. It was organized by the then just 30-year-old Max Huggler, who had been director of the Kunsthalle since 1931.
There are more than 200 archive documents related to the exhibition: letters, text drafts, leaflets, transport and insurance invoices, receipts, as well as reviews and the catalogue. The show is remarkable not least because the selection of works was made by Kirchner himself, and the exhibition therefore bore the curatorial signature of the artist. The documents in the archive allow vividly retracing this process as a dialogue between Kirchner and Max Huggler. Moreover, the sources shed light on the intensive exchange that Huggler had with the most important collectors of Kirchner’s works, as well as on the economic aspect of the show that-as customary at the time-was conceived as a sales exhibition. The documents also make tangible the historical context of the show, which took place two months after the National Socialists had seized power and soon afterwards defamed Kirchner as a “degenerate artist.”

The Archive Stories program pursues the potential stories that lie dormant in the copious archive of the 100-year-old Kunsthalle Bern. The series invites us to explore. Together we inspect and discuss the archive documents, placing the focus on a practical approach.

The program is headed by Michael Baumgartner and Julia Jost (Art Education Kunsthalle Bern). It takes place in the archive of the Kunsthalle Bern. Space is therefore limited, so please register at info_at_kunsthalle-bern.ch.
Fee, incl. admission to the current exhibition and a lunchtime snack: 15 CHF.