The art historian and long-time Städel director Klaus Gallwitz is dead. The 91-year-old died on October 21 with his family in Karlsruhe, as his wife Bénédicte Peyrat announced on Monday.
He was seen as a sponsor of young artists such as Gerhard Richter, Markus Lüpertz or Anselm Kiefer, who are now among the big stars of the art scene.
Frankfurt am Main - From 1974, Gallwitz was director of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main for two decades.
"In the 20 years of his tenure in office, he has demonstrated his flair for contemporary art in several ways and has written exhibition history with it," said Frankfurt's head of culture, Ina Hartwig, on Monday.
The love for art began in the Dresden-born son of a geology professor at home, where artists like Emil Nolde went in and out.
After studying in East Berlin, Halle / Saale, Kiel, Munich and Göttingen, the newly graduated doctor opened a small contemporary art gallery in Karlsruhe in 1957.
Artists from the neighboring academy such as HAP Grieshaber or Horst Antes exhibited there.
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Later, as managing director of the Badischer Kunstverein, Gallwitz organized exhibitions about Max Beckmann, Lovis Corinth and Oskar Kokoschka.
With the "Garden of Earthly Delights" by Horst Antes for the Federal Horticultural Show in 1967, he caused a sensation nationwide.
In the same year he went to Baden-Baden as head of the State Art Gallery, where he attracted attention with a wide range of exhibitions.
He presented young art in the much acclaimed “Fourteen times fourteen” series, with a different artist presented every two weeks - including assembly and dismantling on the open stage.
Many of those who were unknown at the time, such as Richter, Lüpertz or Baselitz, have long been among the greats in the art world.
During his tenure as director of the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt / Main, Gallwitz showed a feeling for quality with shows about Richard Long, Dan Flavin and the artist group Zero.
The Beckmann specialist promoted modernism in lectures and books and supported artists such as Joseph Beuys and Ulrich Rückriem.
In 1990 a new section for modernism was opened in the Städel.
Gallwitz set up his own cabinet for Anselm Kiefer.
In 2003 the art historian, who made a name for himself with catalogs of works on Beckmann and Picasso, was appointed founding director of the Frieder Burda Museum.
dpa
