René and Christiane Scharf in conversation with Kathrin DuBois

In her early years, art meant public action for Chris Reinecke (*1936). At the end of the 1960s, the artist, who studied and still lives in Düsseldorf, invited passers-by into her studio or carried out artistic performances on the street in order to reach as many people as possible. This exhibition shows objects, drawings and photos from this period, some of which are being presented for the first time.

Reinecke and her former husband, the artist Jörg Immendorff (1945-2007), rented a room in Pempelfort in 1968 where they organised exhibitions and events such as creative workshops for adults. Shortly afterwards, they founded the “Büro Olympia” in the city centre, which campaigned against the politically motivated promotion of high-performance sports. The place became a focal point for other political groups such as “Mietersolidarität” (“Tenant Solidarity”), which fought for rent control.

In her 1970 manifesto “Kunst Muss Sein” (“Art Is Necessary”), Reinecke explained her understanding of art as a democratic medium that should be open to all. In 2023, she donated a collection of early works to the Kunstpalast that visualise this way of thinking.

Curator: Gunda Luyken, Head of the Department of Prints and Drawings, Kunstpalast &
Claudia Petersen, Head of Prints and Drawings Study Room, Kunstpalast

DIE GROSSE presents art from all over North Rhine-Westphalia every year. Organised by the VzVvK e.V., it traditionally takes place at the Kunstpalast and the NRW-Forum.

Works of art by around 180 artists from all disciplines, selected by a jury of experts, are shown in four halls and in the outdoor area. DIE GROSSE is a reflection of current developments in the art scene and is regarded as a meeting place for the professional sector. What makes it special: All works in the exhibition are for sale. DAS KLEINE FORMAT, a separate area with small-format artworks, offers art for as little as 300 euros! Visitors can also look forward to an exciting supporting programme on Thursdays and Sundays.

They fought for their education, for recognition and visibility – and yet they have disappeared almost completely from the history books. With the exhibition Women Artists! From Monjé to Münter, the Kunstpalast brings over 30 female artists back into the public eye.

The show offers an insight into around 100 years of female artistic creation in Düsseldorf – a city that was a beacon for women artists from all over Europe in the nineteenth century, even though the doors of the art academy remained closed to them.

Following a multi-year research project, this large-scale special exhibition is the first of its kind to comprehensively examine the lives and works of the women who were involved in the arts in Düsseldorf during this period: a (re)discovery that has rewritten a chapter of art history. “Every new difficulty was a new motivation for me,” wrote the painter Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann around 1874 – a statement that reflects the attitude of many other women artists and could serve as the leitmotif of this exhibition.

The exhibition is the result of extensive in-depth research as well as a critical examination of the history of the museum’s own collection. Indeed, the Kunstpalast – founded in 1913 as the Düsseldorf Municipal Art Collections – played a role in this structural exclusion: prior to 1933, the museum had only purchased four paintings by women artists. It was not until recent decades that a significant shift began to take place. Since 2017, under the direction of Felix Krämer, there has been a targeted acquisition of works by women artists, including 15 paintings by nineteenth-century artists such as Emilie Preyer, Paula Monjé and Emmy Lischke, who are represented in the exhibition.

The exhibition uncovers buried histories and sheds light on the ways in which women pursued their artistic careers despite structural disadvantages. It shows courageous paths and smart decisions, telling the story of women artists whose work paved the way for what should be the norm today: equal opportunities for all, including in the arts.

There is also a special focus on women artists from Scandinavia and Finland who chose Düsseldorf as a venue for their education and inspiration. The exhibition was conceived in close cooperation with the Ateneum Art Museum / Finnish National Gallery in Helsinki, which hosted the exhibition Crossing Borders: Travelling Women Artists in the 1800s from March to August 2025 and attracted over 200,000 visitors.

Artists represented in the exhibition:

Victoria Åberg | Amalie Bensinger | Fanny Churberg | Mathilde Dietrichson | Alma Erdmann | Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald | Alexandra Frosterus-Såltin | Marta Hegemann | Minna Heeren | Adeline Jaeger | Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann | Marga Klinckenberg | Benita Koch -Otte | Magda Kröner | Gertrud von Kunowski | Marie Laurencin | Emmy Lischke | Amalia Lindegren | Luise von Martens | Paula Monjé | Gabriele Münter | Emilie Preyer | Sophie Ribbing | Julia Schily-Koppers | Christiane Schreiber | Martel Schwichtenberg | Alwine Schroedters | Hermine Stilke | Milly Steger | Emma Volck | Marie Wiegmann

From Incense to Chanel N°5

The journey begins with the spiritual and therapeutic function of fragrances in religious ceremonies, which dates back thousands of years. It continues through the opulent fragrance culture of European courts in the Baroque era and the stench of 18th-century cities, where the legendary Eau de Cologne was developed. With the Industrial Revolution came synthetic scents, which not only influenced perfumes, but also soaps, detergents and other everyday products. In the 20th century, fashion houses such as Chanel revolutionised perfume history with their bold creations.

An Experience for All the Senses

Sometimes as subtle as the smell of a room, sometimes interactive or selected for individual works – the combination of art appreciation and the sense of smell consistently creates an intense, emotional experience throughout the exhibition. The Secret Power of Scents opens up a new dimension of the museum experience. The show is aimed at all age groups and links a multisensory experience with social, cultural and scientific perspectives. Visitors can smell history – and perhaps discover a piece of their own in the process.

The works of Hans-Peter Feldmann (1941–2023), to whom the Kunstpalast is dedicating its first retrospective in autumn 2025, revolve around the questions ‘What is art? Where does it begin, where does it end? Who determines what art is? What makes an artist?’

Even in his early works, recurring central themes can be discerned: everyday life, social clichés, voyeurism, private and public spheres, taste formation, humour and satire, dreams and projections. From the outset, Feldmann consistently pursued strategies of artistic appropriation, alienation and recontextualisation.

Around 80 works are on display in ten rooms, representing the entire spectrum of his oeuvre: early photographs from the 1970s, sculptures made from everyday objects, painted-over paintings and large-scale installations. This provides an overview of a body of work that focused on the seemingly incidental and banal, creating new meanings through alienation and recontextualisation.

After the Second World War, a young generation of designers emerged. With their love of experimenting with Italian design, they brought new ideas to Murano. Foreign trading houses, for example in France and the USA, exerted considerable influence, securing the operation of the production facilities through their regular orders.
A predominant product from the workshops is the vase, which has a utilitarian character and can also be considered a work of art in its own right.

The step towards free artistic sculpture was rarely taken. The Venetian artists Livio Seguso and Luciano Vistosi are the notable exceptions with their works that move away from the vase form. With their fascination for glass as a material, artists from all over the world, such as the sculptor Tony Cragg, are now turning their ideas into glass on Murano.
There are now workshops that work with artists in many countries. But “The Murano Mythos” still attracts visitors to Venice.

Curator: Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk, Kunstpalast

In addition to painting, sculpture, video installations and photography, the broad spectrum of the show also encompasses everyday objects as well as music and commercial images. Connections between the works reveal continuities, but also the versatility of depictions of mothers, which are continuously being appropriated, reinterpreted, disputed and celebrated.

Curators: Linda Conze, Westrey Page, Anna Christina Schütz, Kunstpalast

MAMAPHONE