From Auerbach to Zille – Artistic Greetings from the Archives

Archive | Presentation | Reading | Talk

Brief von Harald Metzkes an Wolfgang Windhausen, Berlin, 10. November 1990, Feder, Tusche, aquarelliert, Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Since the beginnings of Classical Modernism, artists have combined text and image in letters and postcards in a form that could be used to exchange ideas. A new book containing examples of greetings from the Archives’ wealth of holdings offers a view of the fascinating world of visual communication.

Ever since the beginnings of Classical Modernism, artists have combined text and image in their correspondence in a form that could be used to illustrate their ideas, cast light on their biographical situations or express feelings of friendship – from the Expressionists of “Die Brücke” (The Bridge) through to contemporary practitioners. The greetings on postcards, letters and the more unorthodox media we are familiar with today open up a fascinating world situated between personal communication and autonomous artwork. Here, the commonplace, the poetic and the political are packed into the tightest of spaces.

Sometimes these original messages, which may also be satirical in nature, need to be decoded for their effect to emerge. Examples of greetings drawn from the rich holdings of the Visual Arts Archives at the Akademie der Künste have been brought together in a new book, offering an insight into the manifold forms of artistic exchange.

The book launch will feature presentations of selected letters read by Corinna Harfouch and a performance by Sabine Oehring of Siegfried Behrend’s Postcard Suite No. 1. There will also be a discussion moderated by Helen Adkins, in which Matthias Flügge, Eckhart J. Gillen, Anke Hervol, and Michael Krejsa, editor and long-standing director of the Visual Arts Archives, talk about what motivates artists to communicate with their peers, both visually and in writing, and the almost infinite variety of forms this takes.

The publication was made possible by the generous support of Marietta Schmelzpfennig (Hannover/Berlin).

Price: €7.50

Reduced price: €5.00

Next date:

• Date Tuesday, 29/September/2026 19:00 bis 21:00
• Venue Akademie der Künste - Hanseatenweg
• Address Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin-Tiergarten