Category: History

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Solution problem

We all tend to agree that if there is a problem we shall try to find a solution. Once we seem to have the solution, after a lot of time has elapsed. we no longer sure what the original problem was. It may turn out that the solution shall be in search for a problem it still fits. Listening to the speeches at the UN General Assembly in 2026-9 there are still many problems the UN can address and is the solution or at least part of the solution. However, there are many problems on earth, the institutional setup of the UN no longer fits (The responsibility to protect is one of the discussed problems, Brunnée &Toope 2008).
The UN Security Council with its split into permanent members, with veto powers, and 10 elected other members is an example where a previous solution to the post 2WW international conflicts was a legitimate working solution, but the 21st century’s crises asks for new solutions and arenas for negotiations, which take into account a wider spectrum of countries and topics in a multipolar world. Middle powers shall have to take more active roles within or beyond the current UN institutions. 

Many Kites flying on a beach festival 2026-9

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Cultural Identities

The cultural identity of a cross-border region, like Tyrol, is subject to influences from several nation states. Historical developments have led to creation and reshaping of (internal) borders repeatedly. The exhibition in the “Museum of European Cultures” traces the many links the region and culture of Tyrol has to Austria, Italy and Bavaria, Germany. Specific crafts and designs of furniture (see below) or folk fashion have played a considerable role in the making and survival of Tyrol and its cultural identity despite globalization. Tourism has become the major source of revenue. The challenges of climate change, increase in transport across the Alps and over-tourism are hard to reconcile in this hot spot of the confrontation of traditional and modern values. The idyllic panorama of “Der Wilde Kaiser” appears frequently in cinema and photographs about the region. For some, such images may become a kind of second home or escape route. Literature on the region or dealing with the region complements the reflections about cultural identity or identities.

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70s revival

Brussels celebrates each year the “Car free Sunday” as final part of the mobility week. On 2026-9-20 this event coincides with the very high oil prices again. Just like in the oil crises of the 70s in 1973 and 1979 saving energy for mobility and transport is high on the political agenda in many countries. Just think of the benefits of such events. Less consumption will reduce “greed-flation” and upward pressure on prices. Pollution levels of fine particles and noise are drastically reduced. Children feel safe while riding their bicycles, scooters or skateboards. Parents are no longer on permanent alert due to the risk of accidents. For those who remember or lived during the 70s, they might have a “déjà vu” experience and enjoy a revival of the 70s. The roller skates are up for a revival as well. 

Brussels Car free day 2026-9-20

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Glass wall

A glass wall remains a wall even if it is transparent. The glass and steel construction of the Neue Nationalgalerie by Mies van der Rohe has large windows which allow light to flow into the building and create an illusion of transparency as well as openness. However, for most exhibitions “paywalls” are erected to limit access. The Cattelan installation in the gallery erected another light barrier before the official opening in form of the ribbon barring entrance. For those who had experienced the real wall in front of or behind the Brandenburger Tor”, a certain allergy against walls is probably a leftover from those days or years. Hence, Klaus Biesenbach and Maurizio Cattelan tear that wall down!
Thanks go to the Volkswagen Group “Art-4-All” sponsorship which allows free entry on Thursday evenings already. Public-private partnerships are way forward and “Mäzene” can accompany such journeys in multiple ways. 

Cattelan Maurizio at Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin 2026-9

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Modern Cathedral

For a long time we have argued here that museums are the cathedrals of modernity. Maurizio Cattelan has taken this claim literally. In a bit of a cheeky way, he turned the “Neue Nationalgalerie” into a cathedral of German modernity. Who are the Gods then? Our cultural heritage comprises beyond our German language classics, the novel “Die Blechtrommel” by praised and then disgraced Günter Grass. The figure serves as the “campanile” sitting above the entry. Well, the small scale “Brandenburger Tor” serves as the entry portal into a wide open space, with past pieces of adoration in a transfigured sense. This modern cathedral holds pieces of art similar to small chapels in a cathedral dealing or inviting to remember historic events or eminent persons. The modern aspect consists in its temporality. The show must not go on forever. Like surrounding every cathedral, lots of immortalised pigeons accompany our visit, just sitting around. There is no longer just one “holy spirit” or “peace dove” but so many. Welcome to the temporary modern cathedral in Berlin.

Cattelan-Berlin-2026-9-Neue-Nationalgalerie

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VCs shun SA

Venture Capitalists have an eye on long-term safety of investments. Political upheavals, unrest or instability can deter investments as much as risks to the safety of the workforce. The abbreviation “SA” in Germany has at least 2 meanings. (1) Historically, it refers to the “Sturmabteilung”, which was important in the rise of the Fascist movement and Nazi-terror in the 1920s, 1930s. Foreign investors were right to shun away from investments during the rise of the Fascists in Germany as a total loss of the investment was to be expected. (2) In 2026-8 the abbreviation “SA” in Germany stands also for “Saxony-Anhalt”, one of the Federal States of Eastern Germany, formerly the GDR between 1949-1990.
The “Wallstreet Journal”, which is read by many international investors showed on its title page of WSJ 2026-9-7 a report by Bertrand Benoit on the disastrous election in Saxony-Anhalt giving the extreme right-wing party AfD close to an absolute majority of votes. The abandoned investment by Intel into a chip-production near the capital of SA, Magdeburg, has been in retrospect a rather wise investment decision. The internationality of the employees, who build and operate such plants, might have contributed to them feeling rather unsafe in a hostile environment towards foreign workers.

intel processor logo

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Notre-Dame Organ

Paris, particularly Notre-Dame de Paris, is a great place to listen to pipe organs. It just needs a little preparation to find out time and place of a concerts. There are actually surprisingly many. At times of official services you might also get an impression of the capacity of organs and organists knowing how to make the pipes sound from soft, melodic to broad, majestic, even overwhelming. In Notre-Dame de Paris the original organ was built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll and accomplished in 1868. An “electric blower” (1924) certainly enhanced and prolonged the sound capacities of the already rich orchestration features. Despite the electric enhancement the mechanics remain the primary features of the sound of pipe organs. Olivier Latry at Notre-Dame manages to the audiences into the 21st century’s sound spectrum based on traditional, but adapted variations of classical compositions. Bringing in new talent, like at the “Konzerthaus“, will guarantee that future generations can still enjoy the many worlds of sound that organs open up for us. Short sound impression Notre-Dame de Paris organ play 2026-8.

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Gothic Paris

At the “Conciergerie” in Paris you can really and virtually dive into the early medieval period. The royal meeting room and the huge kitchen with 4 impressive stoves brings to life what a royal feast had been like. A guide with virtual reality adds to the lively experience of history of French royalty. Some might like the later functions of some rooms in the annex, where prisoners of the “Palais de justice” where held. During the French Revolution even a Member of the Royal family was imprisoned and later executed there. A long evolution of historical facts is captured in a relatively small space. The weight and violence of history is an almost overwhelming experience there. The modern lighting is definitely more healthy and the smell of cooking next door is also just happening in our imagination or the animation on the tablet.

Conciergerie Paris 2026-8

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Fleeting memories

Our memory function is challenged once we travel. There are so many new impressions that ask for prime time in memory, but our capacities to safely store every detail of it is rather limited. On his voluntary travels, less when going into exile, Victor Hugo drew places with astonishing architectural detail and made literary descriptions on the back of the copy. The ruins of a gothic church in Bacharach (Germany) on the banks of the Rhine are a great example of his attempts to beat the fleeting memory. The ink and graphite pencil drawing date back to 1840. The imagery of the abandoned church, itself rich in memories of conflict by way of drawing details inscribes deeply into his own memory. A description in words on the back of this piece reinforces this effect beyond the mental exercise of precision versus dramatic blurriness. Repeating this exercise months later would reveal our fleeting memories when traveling. A great technique which is still valuable 186 years later. 

Church ruins at Bacharach by Victor Hugo 1840 exhibt at Maison de Victor Hugo Paris

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Philosophy in consulting

What has consulting to do with philosophy? How much philosophy in consulting? If we think of business consulting, there is very little philosophy in most of it. Some ethical considerations might enter the consulting with respect to mass lay-offs, ethical considerations in supply chains or handling waste. The philosophy of consulting, however, deals with one of the oldest philosophical practices (Stegmaier 1993). Since Plato and Socrates the dialogue of persons is at the foundation of philosophy. Throughout the history of philosophy the dialogue as the basis of exchanging ideas and controversies can be regarded as a philosophical practice particularly if it deals with topics beyond daily concerns. The consulting by philosophers has taken the form of speeches as well as book publications. Marc Aurel or Montaigne have written famous accounts of their consulting advice to political leaders. Rousseau for education or Kuhn for science have been influential with their philosophy intended as consulting beyond the inter-individual, dialogue-oriented form. The dialogue with a reader used to be rather exclusive until the invention of the printed press. Apelt introduced the “ethics of discourse” followed by a theory of communicative action (Habermas). Even modern governance structures “incorporate” committees as institutionalized consulting to advice with multiple and at best diverse perspectives as guidelines to persons in leadership positions. In order to counterbalance individual leadership of prime ministers, judges or university presidents, institutionalized internal consulting has been implemented (Stegmaier 1993). Consulting resistant leaders probably had some of the worst fates if we think of Julius Caesar. Seeking advice is only one side of the coin. Giving advice is the other one. Now we leave the “why” of philosophy in consulting and move to the questions of “what” and “how” to consult.

Paris start-up 2026 Station

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Outdoor Pleasures

Summertime surely is time for outdoor activities and pleasures. Besides the broad spectrum of more or less strenuous activities, summer is perfect for socializing in parks, restaurants, cafes or beer gardens. We might think of this as more recent inventions, but in historical depictions by Bruegel or Jan Steen (1661 in Gemäldegalerie Berlin, extract below) we find evidence that socializing in a restaurant or beer garden has been around for more than 460  years. Monks were brewing beer and the consumption was reserved to a more elitist group of people. The concept is quite old. Fortunately, we have managed to democratize the joyful and socializing part of being together.  Places where people from different social classes come together have always been rare and this, additionally, varies across regions, countries and often social strata.

Jan Steen 1661 Gemäldegalerie Berlin beer garden

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La gaya sienza

Nietzsche published his 1st version of “Die fröhliche Wissenschaft“ in1882. Ever since a controversy over the translation and interpretation of the title broke out. The publication in English referred to the title as “Joyful Wisdom”. A major question remains: is the opus a piece about science in the sense of philosophy, or less rigorous in method and therefore more a kind of general contribution to a perspective on wisdom? 12 x 12 years later of the 1st publication the “Motto” on the opening page should be taken more seriously. “Dem Dichter und Weisen sind alle Dinge befreundet und geweiht, alle Erlebnisse nützlich, alle Tage heilig, alle Menschen göttlich.“ Such a  radical Version of enlightenment as scientific method announced his attempts to demystify everything from religious beliefs to also science as well. The Motto of the 2nd edition in 1887 goes beyond the original one to include himself into this demystification. “Ich wohne in meinem eigenen Haus, Hab Niemanden nie nichts nachgemacht Und – lachte noch jeden Meister aus, Der nicht sich selbst ausgelacht. In a nutshell, mock yourself as much as you mock about anyone else. Can this science be science, intelligence, artificial intelligence or is this already the precursor of „super intelligence“ of the 21st century AI hype? 

Marc Bloch Library ENS Paris

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UN General Secretary

The questioning of candidates for the position of UN general secretary in 2026-7 has revealed  a fundamental difference in the understanding of the role to be played by any General Secretary. Do you want a SG to be more of a General or more like a Secretary? In other words, do you abide by the idea to have a person in leadership position to rely and lead in a strictly hierarchical manner or do you choose a person that understands leadership as a service to the constituent bodies or membership organizations. There seems to be a predilection for the former rather than the latter leadership profile. However, 21st century has a chance to break with the erroneous paths, choices and missed opportunities. … “when will we ever learn”.

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Learning and authenticity

For historical, philosophical, social and many other domains, learning in authentic locations moves learners particularly. This can consist in reinforcement learning of an otherwise abstract event or process. The neuroscience of learning has demonstrated that both parts the rational mind and the emotional relatedness contribute to learning success. Memorials are such places where persons get involved with all their brain and senses. Robert Sigel (2015 pp.50-53) described the wealth of pedagogic approaches that has entered memorials. They range from flyers, guided tours to geo-caching, digital apps and continuous involvement in social media related to on-site visits. Memorials are no social-pedagogic institutions either. They cannot guard or even correct more or less likely antisocial social behavior of visitors. Additionally, they have to strike a balance between 360 degrees, engaged learning and decent commemoration. Authentic objects and information, like biographical accounts, original voices, videos or handwriting reinforce the lasting memory in and of  a memorable location ( Koessler, 2025 p. 79). School curricula make far too little use of this well implemented combination of learning and authenticity so far. Great potentials are ahead of us building on the specificity of each memorial. (Image: topography of terror, webpage access on site 2026).

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Learning moral sentiments

In school curricula and evaluations of pupils learning progress there has been little attention to pupils’ learning moral sentiments. Religion and comparisons of religious practices have entered educational programs, but even the big PISA studies have largely refrained from evaluations of learning achievements in ethical matters or moral sentiments. Adam Smith as proponent of the Scottish enlightenment had written about “The theory of moral sentiments” before embedding his market economy into the enlightened society. In the 2020s we realize that we have neglected this part of learning for far too long. This is the point where memorials can play a primordial role as a central part of learning not only about history, but moral sentiments in the broadest sense. Memorials “Gedenkstätten” operate as quasi-schools” in this respect for young and experienced learners at the same time considered that more than 50% of learners in memorials pupils, students or from teaching professions. However, outcomes of  learning in memorials could also be assessed in order to check what kind of learning goals and moral sentiments can be addressed in such historically charged learning environments. Such learning locations of moral sentiments have to balance the intended learning with the necessary decency of the commemoration in such learning environments. (Image: Topography of terror Berlin exhibitions) 

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Realist Democracy

2000 years after the “invention” of and first attempts to develop a theory of democracy, we have come round to seriously think about “a realist theory of democracy” (Achen & Bartels, 2016). The ideals formulated in constitutions deviate sometimes substantially from the practice. Therefore, we have courts, (ideally) independent judiciaries, journalists and scientists. All these well-established safe-guards to ensure well-functioning democratic structures continue to be challenged. In each democratic country we can cite “derailing” of political leaders that try to bypass democratic institutions. The latest example in 2026 is the Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner. He deceived, some claim he lied, repeatedly before his own party base refuted him as their representative when lies were uncovered. There have been several other politicians who have covered up his misinformation of the public about his handling of an urgency, which affected 100.000 people sitting without electricity during winter days. It took 6 months to uncover the truth about the handling of the crisis. However, eventually the truth and the lying to the media and the public became uncovered. The merit of this occurrence in Berlin is the hope that democratic ideals can be upheld even in rather hierarchic organizations and so-called head-fast leadership.

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War came to us

Ukrainian people had to make the horrific experience that « the war came to us ». Even if the Ukrainians were much better prepared than in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea, the horrors of war to not seem to come to an end soon even in 2026. Putin’s war leading Russia into a miserable war experience has made other European nations face the rationale that war might come to them as well. Alliances are formed and reformed to be better prepared for escalations and more realistic threats as well. Huge budgets are vastes again for military purposes in view of a possible need for defense. CO2 emissions skyrocket at the same time, all due to Putin’s illusion of a greater Russian empire. We keep reading and learning our lessons from the brave Ukrainian defense.

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Gardening culture

There is a specific set of skills attached to gardening culture. You do not have to travel continents to experience the pleasure of gardening from more than just your own culture. Beyond the tradition of the French garden “à la Le Nôtre”, the English garden including the short precisely trimmed lawn and blooming arrangements, the Japanese gardens have a wholistic approach, which pay attention to broader human experiences of nature. A garden is a kind of sanctuary. It resembles more an internal journey rather than a showing off to others. Walls serve to enhance privacy to be able to open-up again later to others rather than a symbol of distinction and exclusion from the less privileged. Small places suffice to give room to a Bonsai experience. The very busy seaside resorts and port of Ostend on the Belgian coast has reserved a small spot for inner peace in its Japanese garden. (Image: Japanese garden “Shin Kai Tei” in Ostend created by Takahashi Sawano) 

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Autonomy as Happiness

The French philosopher Émile-Auguste Chartier, better known as Alain, is a proponent of a rational approach towards fundamental issues. Therefore, we should expect from the reading of “Propos sur le bonheur” a thought-based conception of happiness. In his propositions on happiness, autonomous decision-making and autonomous actions play a decisive role. Rather than writing a voluminous “treatise” on happiness, he had chosen in the 1920s, the form of 93 about 2-page long propositions about happiness. These propositions are a bit more explicit than, for example, Nietzsche’s aphorisms, but they remain short without much literary context to the kind of rational analysis based on observations and anecdotal supporting evidence.
In propositions 42 “Agir” and 44 “Diogène” he deals with autonomy as subject. “on veut agir, on ne veut pas subir” (in short, “act, not endure”, own translation), that is his quintessence. “Tous les métiers plaisent autant que l’on y gouverne, et déplaisent autant que l’on y obéit.” (44). (All professions are pleasant if you govern, and are unpleasant if you have to obey). More than 100 years later, empirical studies on job quality, job satisfaction and happiness still build on this rationale.

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Autonomous regions

In political science, autonomous regions have a hybrid legal form. Autonomous regions are a part of nation state, but have rights of own administration beyond what other regions have. The status quo of an autonomous region is more defined by the historical evolution than current political controversies. The hybrid state as being part of a larger nation on the one hand, but giving the impression of enjoying more autonomous decision making. The actual test of autonomy is in day-to-day decisions, particularly those that have cultural or financial implications. In order to preserve an own language and folk traditions the status as autonomous region is quite helpful. Whereas an own television channel or decisions about school curricula were essential for autonomous regions, the access to the internet and, for example, AI-assisted translations have made the preservation of cultural autonomy a bit easier in the 21st century. In view of a pervasive globalization we witness at the same time an increasing local attachment of people. The “glocalism”, which combines global humanitarian values with a locally routed personal identity. This mechanism seems to be on the rise and continues to pose a threat to an outdated vision of a nation state. Beyond hybrid cars and hybrid war, we live more and more in hybrid nation states.

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Press in the 1970s

In the 70s there were many so-called underground or alternative papers printed. For people in bigger cities or in cities with universities, the 70s flourished with independent journalism which addressed small audiences. Each access to printing materials and paper allowed to go it alone for groups of society that did not feel they were adequately represented by established media. Some of these “underground” papers published texts that could be considered going against the dominant legal principles. Topics like feminism, birth control, abortion or more left wing political statements against private property had to fight to reach their audiences. The cold war period created another overarching threat to the representation of all opinions. Hence some groups we t underground to function as they wanted and how they interpreted the freedom of expression and being published. (Image: BNF Exhibition Underground 2026-6). 

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Considerations about Space

As is true for most architects, for example Le Corbusier, they are mostly remembered for their actual realizations (Scharoun, Mies van der Rohe), rather than the grand designs prepared for an architecture competition. Henri Gaudin has not only left concrete implementations of his ideas, but also several books on his perception and ideas about “concepts of space” (“Considérations  sur l’espace”), which comprises architectural ideas about “empty spaces“. Additional sources of inspiration were a relentless pursuit of drawing and designing what he saw, for example while travelling.  The BNF has received the extraordinary donation of the journals of Henri Gaudin, which allow to trace his continuous search for innovative representations of what creates a space, the impression of space and the relationship between spaces.
His travels with the TGV in France filled a complete “carnet” (booklet). Architecture is surely not about concrete. In the best cases there is a lot of research happening “backstage”, sometimes in small spontaneous sketches that can have a very lasting impact on many people’s perception of space later on. His own landscape drawings were an interesting inspiration for his architectural work as well. “Image: Landscape drawings by Henri Gaudin, BNF Paris 2026-6, Galérie des Donateurs).

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History as Science

There are persons entering history and there is the science of history. Whereas the former persons may sometimes enter for very dubious reasons into history, responsible for killing people, the science of history draws on a whole lot of evidence, social, economic or demographic, to evaluate a person’s legacy or the merits of an epochal change. In the development of this scientific approach towards history, rather than a purely chronological, family structure or narrative-oriented approach, Marc Bloch has been a central figure. His research and exemplary own biography as student of history at the ENS in Paris, teacher and later Member of “La Résistance” is honored by an exhibition on his life and time at this formidable French institution of teacher training. In an exhibition in the ENS library you can even inspect a list of the books taken out by Marc Bloch as a student as well as his experiences as a student in London or Berlin before the 1st World War. A strictly science-based approach to history made him an influential historian and social scientist beyond his lifetime. (Image: Salle Marc Bloch at ENS Library Paris 2026-5) 

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Nature as a concept

We all hold implicit or explicit concepts of nature in our minds. There are few countries that have “battled” over the course of history with changing and often “politicised” concepts of nature. The exhibition in the DHM “Deutsches Historisches Museum” on “Nature and German History, Faith – Biology – Power” is convincing with this cross-disciplinary approach to the subject. The chronological structure of the exhibition starts with Hildegard von Bingen’s vision of nature embedded into the huge diversity of plants with almost spiritual power. Admiration of plants and the animal world, however, became an economic resource just like gold and slavery during colonization, being followed by industrialization as the epitome of man’s power over nature. Counter movements have been on the rise in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Another power struggle over how and who defines the dominant concept of nature in the 21st century. As nuclear energy, bombs and waste redefined the long-term consequences of “treating” nature, the battles about the prevailing concept of nature intensify. The exhibition in Berlin 2026 is a fine example of a historical perspective on the relationship between society, nature and technology, where the concept of nature becomes a malleable concept between the other two players or systems. (Image: Metamorphosis of the silk moth, DHM 2026-5)

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Magnifica humanitas

With the “Encyclical Letter” entitled “Magnifica humanitas”, Pope LeoXIV puts himself expressively into a long historical tradition of the catholic belief to be not only a religious leader, but also an institution that puts humanitarian values on the top of its agenda. As the catholic church is a globally active institution, which covers the whole life-course of individuals based on defined doctrines, the massive changes that are under way in the field of artificial intelligence asked for some guidelines to frame the church’s understanding of this relatively new “Deus ex machina” of the 21st century. In the Encyclical, there are several mentions with respect to comparable socio-economic developments of the past. In choosing the name of “Leo”, the Pope referred, from the earliest days of his Pontificat, to Leo XIII as a particularly important predecessor for himself. The latter has made his reputation in the Christian Church with the Encyclical “Rerum novarum”, which raised awareness to the risks to humanity with an industrialization and capitalism being pursued at all costs. “Res novae” of our time, which is AI and all its fields of applications have a potential to affect the course of humanity for decades to come. Leo XIV doesn’t condemn it as the devil in machine form, but puts emphasis on the potential of AI to assist us to enhance the “Common good”. This is the task of many, not of only a few, as he refers to in his Encyclical of 2026-5-15.
(Image: Extrait: Saint Augustin, Les Confessions, book 13, chapter 28).

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Litfaß Advertisement Column

Berlin has renovated some of its early say notice boards and advertising columns. The original „Litfaßsäule“ has already the round column shape where you clued a poster on the sirface so that it was visible to several persons interested to look and read. After more than 150 years after its invention, Berlin has digital advertising columns which resemble the original Litfaß design. Rather than the spectator walking around the column, the column now turns around in a steady manner so that nearby you can see the whole advertising content from all points in the neighborhood. Simple change, but a remarkable improvement in the reach of the advertisement. Retro-lighting increases the duration of the effects as well. Mass communication and commercial innovation can sometimes just improve on an existing marketing channel, and still reach a specifically targeted audience.  

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Post-sacred architecture

As with our human bodies, and in many instances already, sacred architecture follows a life course pattern. The thriving religious communities build and expand their faith to larger audiences. In these expansionary phases of the faith many monumental buildings, known as sacred architecture, as well as splendid interiors or artefacts enter the “built faith”. After the peak of membership and in periods of contraction, the question of how to scale down the splendors starts to arise.
Eventually, the ceding of the sacred architecture to the non-believing communities comes into consideration. The sacred architecture needs to find its place in the evolution of societies as well as urban and rural local space. Depending on the intentions and resources of communities, post-sacred architecture has to redefine its purpose for its own survival.
An interesting example of post-sacred architecture constitutes the “Friedrichswerdersche Kirche” in Berlin. The use as a historic exhibition space for sculptures of the 19th century works particularly well in combination with an active program on art, architecture and history. The statue by Ludwig Winckelmann (image below) depicts the reflection on and about a miniature sculpture in space. The post-sacred use of this fine and luminous architecture continues to reach an enlightened audience.

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Portrait of or about

In some galleries or for curators of an exhibition, the crucial question is not only the overall message, but the best positioning of artworks in the available space. In many national galleries what hangs next to another piece is rarely seen as an opportunity for exploration and experimentation. A recent visit to the “Gemäldegalerie“ in Berlin allowed to explore the vicinity of 2 paintings, which are very different in appearance. The one (by Pierre Subleyras 1740) is just entitled “Portrait of a woman”, the other one next to it, “Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Angels and Two Saints, Domenico Mondo 1773). The former portrait has almost a modern touch to it as the beauty consists in the simplicity of the person depicted, whereas the latter painting portrays a rather empty message of splendor and power. The conscious confrontation of portraits or paintings with each other is the high art of curatorship. It is even more pointed than a guided tour of a gallery as the simultaneous rather than the sequential confrontation is the issue. 

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Woman artist scandal

The painter Hermine Schmidt-von Preuschen, little known today, had to face strong forces in the established art community of her time. The skills and audacity she displayed at an early stage of her career as painter is epitomized in her work “Imperator Mors”. This painting dates back to 1887 and was rejected by the art academy in Berlin for their official exhibition. The woman artist was already at that time confident enough that her painting was of sufficient quality to deserve to be not only considered in the exhibition, but also to be seen by larger audiences. Similar to the refused painters of the impressionist movement, she decided to mount her own exhibition. The turnout to this proved to be quite a success according to the press cuttings presented as part of the exhibition in Berlin at the “Alte Nationalgalerie” 2026-5. Maybe it was the intended philosophical topic or message that killed the chances to be part of the art academy exhibition. “Imperator Mors” shows death or a skeleton to be the ultimate ruler of our fate. For all those who believe in some sort of life after death, this can be viewed as a “Scandal” in itself. The scandal created with such a depiction probably overshadowed the fact that the provocation came from a woman artist. Still very avantgarde for the end of the 19th century. (Image: Hermine Schmidt-von Preuschen and her painting Imperator Mors 1887)

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Brancusi polyartist

The joint exhibition by the “Neue Nationalgalerie” Berlin and the “Centre Pompidou” Paris has the simple title “Brancusi”. The name of the artist Brancusi stands for a very singular approach to take sculpture into the 20th century by way of abstraction. Brancusi used all sorts of materials like lime stone, bronze, wood and marble. Additionally, he was very conscious of the fact that especially for sculptures the “mise en scène” plays a vital role. Brancusi excelled in this in a rather unique way, mostly by confronting different materials with each other. Sculptures, for him, were architecture in miniature. Such a polyartist approach to sculpture pushed him to use photography and video to not only promote his own work, but to exploit these relatively new techniques to enhance the effect of his sculptures.
Maybe it took almost 100 years that by means of the “not-so-social media” not-instant, anytube and tikytok, this “modus operandi” would capture a whole generation of youth to follow in his footsteps without knowing it. The polyartist Brancusi is a unique milestone, not only using lime stone, on the trajectory of sculpture beyond the early 20th century. The links to other innovative artists chosing abstraction, Picasso or Modigliani, as well as musicians like Eric Satie, reflect the importance of social networks for mutual encouragement when treading new paths in art.