Grethe Jürgens. Retrospektive
In the organizer's words:
The comprehensive retrospective on Grethe Jürgens at the Sprengel Museum Hannover sheds light on an important representative of the New Objectivity of the 1920s. For the first time, the exhibition is showing part of her estate, which comprises over 370 works from various creative phases. The retrospective in the anniversary year of New Objectivity 2025 shows around 150 works, supplemented by numerous documents. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to discover the breadth of Grethe Jürgens' oeuvre, who has long been perceived as being behind other representatives of New Objectivity. The accompanying catalog published by Snoeck Verlag offers insights into her work and life with contributions from various authors and pays full tribute to her artistic significance.
Career and style
Born in Osnabrück in 1899, Jürgens began her graphic art studies in Hanover, during which time she met artists who later became known as the "New Objectivity in Hanover". Early on, she devoted herself to portraits and cityscapes with a strong character and later established her typical visual language with factual, distanced depictions of workers and marginalized groups, characterized by sober realism and a cool, emotionless view of her motifs. Her works are free of accusation and condemnation, but attentively show social tensions and the challenges of life on the margins of society.
Career and challenges
Jürgens' artistic breakthrough came with her first exhibitions from 1928. She regularly took part in exhibitions in Hanover and her works were acquired by public collections. After the National Socialists came to power, she had to register with the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, but was not a member of the NSDAP and escaped confiscation. She adapted to the changed conditions, turning to landscapes and plants and coining her style of "weed painting" with innocuous natural motifs.
Her "rubble paintings" of destroyed Hanover are unique in their impressive depiction of the ruins and the incipient renewal. These works reflect the horror of war and the hope of reconstruction. From the 1950s, her reputation grew again and she was increasingly recognized as an artist of New Objectivity. Jürgens continued to develop towards abstract art and created series such as the "Line Compositions" and the "Kaleidoscopes". However, her love of experimentation remained intact into old age, even though she increasingly oscillated between abstraction and figurative motifs.
Supported by the Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung and the Sparkasse Hannover
Curated by Karin Orchard
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