The term Sachlichkeit, i.e., objectivity, makes us think of the art movement New Objectivity, lasting from 1918 to 1933 and particularly associated with the 1920s. The exhibition presents works by the painter Kate Diehn-Bitt, who was born in Schöneberg near Berlin in 1900 and died in 1978 in Rostock, a representative of this movement who was unjustly forgotten and who continued painting after World War II.

Another artist from whose estate we are presenting works is Michael Langner. He is one of the representatives of “German Pop”, a movement named after the 2014 exhibition at Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, then led by Max Hollein.

Objectivity means holding back one’s own self to turn to an object or a person and portray it realistically. The artists of New Objectivity chose portraits, still lifes, and urban environments as well as industrial plants, which they depicted either with a political stance, idyllically, or in a form of magical realism. This choice of motifs is also reflected in the exhibition.