EXHIBITION
The Line
Paul Klee, Die Geschwister, 1930 © Heidi Horten Collection
Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale Attese, 1966 © Fondation Lucio Fontana, Milano, Bildrecht Wien
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Red Savoy, 1983 © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
There are cheerful lines, somber ones, serious, tragic, exuberant, weak, and strong lines. They are an independent language to express emotions, energy, rhythm, space, light, and movement.
—Alexander Mikhailovich Rodchenko
The exhibition Die Linie | The Line is dedicated to the line as a fundamental element of visual art. Like tones in music and characters in language, the line constitutes an essential principle of design in drawing and painting. Between subjective gestures and constructive abstraction, the line serves endless functions: it structures surfaces and defines forms, creates contours and boundaries, separates and connects. It documents and records space and time, depicts reality, creates illusion, and captures the imaginary.
19.9. 2025 to March 2026
Starting from the classical medium of drawing, the exhibition explores exemplary ways in which the line can be used to create artistic worlds and respond artistically to the world. A particular focus is placed on contemporary works that transcend traditional genre boundaries by extending the line into three-dimensional space. The exhibition also includes works that make the line tangible within the context of artistic engagement with social and political spaces.
Artists featured in the exhibition include:
Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, John M Armleder, Kader Attia, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Angela Bulloch, Marie Cool/Fabio Balducci, Edgar Degas, Fred Eerdekens, Dan Flavin, Lucio Fontana, Lucian Freud, Antony Gormley, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Alexej Jawlensky, Donald Judd, Birgit Jürgenssen, Zilvinas Kempinas, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Gustav Klimt, Edgar Knoop, Brigitte Kowanz, Alfred Kubin, Roy Lichtenstein, Constantin Luser, Henri Matisse, Agnes Martin, Vera Molnár, Nick Oberthaler, Pablo Picasso, Giulia Piscitelli, Sigmar Polke, Dieter Roth, Fred Sandback, Egon Schiele, Chiharu Shiota, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol.