The anniversary exhibition is curated by director Dr. Christiane Stahl, curators Dr. Marie Christine Jádi and Stefanie Odenthal, and photo conservator Rosa Russo. Each curator has selected their personal favorites from Alfred Ehrhardt’s oeuvre and the foundation’s extensive archive holdings, presenting the full spectrum of universal talent Alfred Ehrhardt’s work—from painting to photography to film.

Alfred Ehrhardt is regarded as an outstanding representative of New Objectivity photography. With over twenty published photo books to his credit, he is one of the most successful photographers among former Bauhaus artists. For his artistic films, inspired by the avant-garde of the 1920s, and his cultural films, he has received numerous national and international awards for his artistic films, including four German Film awards. A thirty-minute compilation of his twelve award-winning experimental short films, newly digitized with funding from the FFA (German Federal Film Board), will be screened in the Cinema located in the front space.

The Painting and Photography section situates Alfred Ehrhardt’s painterly work in direct dialogue with his photographs, revealing connections and thematic areas established early on in his artistic work. Featured in the presentation is a work on paper that was only recently rediscovered along with other, unknown, outstanding works in a portfolio literally found in an attic. These are some of Ehrhardt’s earliest works of art and provide a rare glimpse into the early stages of his artistic career.

The Tidelands – Artifacts and Materials in the Archive is dedicated not to the various motifs of this well-known series, but instead focuses on the variety of photographic materials and formats preserved in the foundation archive.
With the aid of two image motifs, visitors will learn about various techniques,
image sizes, and publication forms.

Beginning with a glass negative, Examining the Negative showcases the beauty of these mostly unseen artifacts. Examining a negative up-close under a lamp, loupe, and microscope, reveals many more things to us than a positive print, which is often only a cropped image, allowing us to draw important conclusions with regard to research and dating.

Under the heading Deutschlandfahrt ’49—A Search for Clues, a still completely unknown series of images provides viewers insight into our research work, which they can engage in by tracing the places and landscapes presented here. The series brings together all of Ehrhardt’s themes in a single body of work and, in addition to photographs of nature and architecture, also includes abstract studies of structures and photographs of industry in a New Objectivity style.

The Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung was established in November 2002 by the artist’s son, Munich-based investment manager Dr. Jens Ehrhardt, to preserve his father’s artistic legacy and make it accessible to a broader public. The foundation also focuses on historical photographers from Alfred Ehrhardt’s milieu as well as contemporary positions addressing concepts of “nature” and “constructions of the natural” in line with Ehrhardt’s themes.

Over the past twenty years the foundation has accomplished a great deal and can look back on 140 exhibitions with numerous artists, successful collaborations at home and abroad, and on inspiring talks and readings. In addition to Alfred Ehrhardt’s artistic estate comprising around 100 paintings and drawings, 20,000 silver gelatin prints, and 13,500 negatives, we have also inventoried and digitally cataloged his writings and correspondence. Thus, the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung has been able to establish itself as an important
research and exhibition center in the photography scene and beyond, and still serves today as a point of intersection for art historians, artists, and everyone interested in art.

Twenty Years of the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung. Photography, Film, Painting, Drawing

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