A New Spelling of Museum. Part 2: M-Z – exhibition booklet ENG

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MUSEUM ULM
M-Z TEXT BOOKLET ENGLISH

MASCHEN = MESHES
ROSEMARIE TROCKEL (*1952)
UNTITLED, 1988
Wool, 2-part
Museum Ulm
Rosemarie Trockel uses knitting machines and the power of computers for processing her works. With the choice of this seemingly old-fashioned-looking technique, she caused quite a stir in the mid-1980s. The two-part work lives from the combination of the color of the trademark with the basic color of the respective part of the work. The red wool seal sits against a grayish background, while the head of the Playboy Bunny appears on a red background. Produced using industrial technology, the knitted-in trademarks present themselves as the product of a global (art) market. The Woolmark is the trademark of the International Wool Secretariat, founded in 1937, which is dedicated to the marketing of wool in competition with cotton and synthetic fibers. The Playboy Bunny is the logo of the so-called men’s and lifestyle magazine Playboy, which was created iby the designer Art Paul in 1953. MM

MEME
“I’m not ok, please send cat memes”: Derived from the ancient Greek mimema (the imitation, image), the text-image combinations have been a widespread Internet phenomenon since the 2000s. As an expression of a creative approach to the flood of images that overwhelm us every day, a meme is intended to summarize a certain situation or a feeling in a nutshell – short and concise, with wit and irony. Whether art history, pop culture or politics and world events: The sources from which memes are created, are as random as they are infinite. They just have to be relatable, i.e. relate to the everyday lives of meme consumers and give them the feeling that the experience they are currently having, is shared by many others. In the context of museums, art and culture, memes can create new perspectives on works of art and, thanks to their rapid dissemination online, they can also criticize institutions. KF

MIRABILIA
TWO FIGURES MADE FROM SEEDS AND INSECT PARTS, BEFORE 1659
Wood, wax, various plant seeds, insect parts and snails
Museum Ulm, Kunstkammer Christoph Weickmann
A skirt made from sunflower seeds, the forehead from a beetle shell: Insect parts, sea snails and various plant seeds have become works of art. They form human faces, sumptuous clothing and opulent headdresses. They are held together by wax applied to a wooden core. Colorful glass beads enhance the effect; in other places, remnants of gold lacquer are visible. Such elaborate small sculptures made from organic materials were coveted collector’s items in the 17th century. Some of them embodied allegorical content such as the Four Seasons. However, they were valued and collected above all as so-called ‘mirabilia’ − as curious objects. EL

MISCHWESEN = HYBRID
LION MAN, UPPER PALEOLITHIC (AURIGNACIAN), CA. 40,000 YEARS
Stadel cave in the Hohlenstein (Lone Valley)
Mammoth ivory
Museum Ulm
Half animal, half human – the figurine of the lion-man remains a mystery to us to this day. Its uniqueness lies in being neither one nor the other. The recognizable features of a feline predator are the head with small ears and an elongated snout; the human characteristics are the upright posture and the two legs. The carver used the valuable material of mammoth ivory to create a fantastic work with a high degree of abstraction: a hybrid creature that did not exist in the real world of the Palaeolithic. Other Ice Age ivory figurines from this period show animals such as mammoths, wild horses or cave lions, which were native to the Swabian Alb. The Lion Man, on the other hand, depicts something unknown and thus gives us an insight into the conceptual world of the first people in the Stone Age. JL

NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE (1930-2002)
I DREAMT I WAS IN ARIZONA, 1976
Lithograph in 12 colours
Museum Ulm
Niki de Saint Phalle’s work combines progressive ideas with symbolic images from the world of fairy tales and mythology. The artist, who was self-confident and independent drew on mysterious creatures from Egypt, India, early America, Mexico and Jewish culture. In the center of the picture is a kind of bed, in which a woman is lying. The edge of the mattress is inscribed with the text of the title. It reads: “I dreamt I was in Arizona. In front of a landscape, illuminated by moon and stars, between cacti and bushes, a horse and a scorpion” The largest figure depicts a shaman wearing deer antlers and a heavily decorated robe and thus presents himself as a hybrid being. Is the woman in bed dreaming of this scenery? MM

MJAM! = YUMMY!
DIETER ROTH (1930-1998)
SMALL LANDSCAPE, 1969
Mixed media (processed cheese, sandpaper, plastic bag)
Museum Ulm, Kurt Fried Collection Foundation
In the mid-1960s, Dieter Roth began working with foodstuffs such as potato salad, bread, sausage, cheese and minced meat. The process of decay of these materials through mold, rot, insects and maggot infestation became an indispensable part of his works. Roth affectionately called the maggots and beetles that infested his food artworks affectionately his employees. He included the sometimes bestial stench as a new sensory experience. In 1968, Joseph Beuys appointed him to Düsseldorf to the art academy. Here Daniel Spoerri ran his Eat Art Gallery here, where Roth exhibited repeatedly. Dieter Roth’s experiments with cheese and other organic, materials challenged traditional notions of art and made him one of the pioneers of the Fluxus movement. SD

ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
CAMPBELL’S SUPPER DRESS, 1966/67
Cellulose, cotton
Museum Ulm
In the mid-1960s, a fashion trend emerged to design disposable paper clothes as promotional items for industrial consumer products. Andy Warhol, who began his career as a fashion illustrator expanded his artistic concept in 1965 with the Campbell’s Souper Dress. It is more than just a piece of clothing. It is symbolic of the commercialization of art and offers a fascinating example of how Warhol translated his artistic ideas into different media in order to redefine the boundaries between art, fashion and everyday culture, high and pop culture. The Campbell Soup Company cleverly exploited the pop artist’s fame to promote sales via a mail order campaign. SD

DANIEL SPOERRI (1930 – 2024)
TABLEAU PIÈGE NO. 7, WITHOUT YEAR
Mixed Media
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried
The term Eat Art was coined by Daniel Spoerri to describe a contemporary art that was close to Nouveau Réalisme. Its precursor was the Cucina Futurista, founded in 1930 by some representatives of Italian Futurism, which declared public banquets to be works of art. The beginnings of Eat Art are based on Daniel Spoerri’s so called tableaux pièges of the 1960s. Here, the Swiss artist fixed leftovers from meals with glue and preservatives, to create memorable snapshots of a consumption-oriented everyday world and sculptural still lifes. Between 1968 and 1972, Daniel Spoerri ran a restaurant in Düsseldorf’s Old Town with Eat Art Gallery. He regarded the art of cooking as part of the visual arts. In his Eat Art actions he appeared as a chef, parodied fine dining and invented new dishes. In addition to trap pictures, Daniel Spoerri also created objects made of bread dough. SD

MÜNSTER = MINSTER
MARKUS BRUNETTI (*1965)
ULM MINSTER, 2007-2014
Photographic work
Museum Ulm
With his oversized photographs, Markus Brunetti succeeds in capturing the sheer size of Gothic architecture in an overwhelming way. Amateur photographers are aware of the falling lines when it comes to capturing buildings with a regular camera. Markus Brunetti traveled with his partner Betty Schoener across Europe. In his luggage he had an independent computer lab on wheels. The intriguing effect of his method is that he assembles the facades from individual images square meter by square meter. One depiction of a building can comprise between 1000 and 2000 individual images. This is how he achieves an impressive sharpness in his work. Every detail is visible, right down to the sculptures and architectural decorations. In this portrait of Ulm Minster, the façade of the late Gothic cathedral can be studied and perceived more closely than ever before. MM

NARWAL = NARWHAL
TUSK OF A NARWHAL, 17TH CENTURY
Museum Ulm, Kunstkammer Christoph Weickmann
Narwhals live in the northern Arctic Ocean. The tusks of animals hunted or found on the beach reached the European mainland via the trade route. For a long time, people there knew nothing about the small whales and thought the teeth, which are over two meters long, were evidence of a legendary creature: the unicorn. Accordingly, narwhal teeth were traded at high prices. This specimen comes from the possession of the Ulm merchant Christoph Weickmann (1617-1681), who, in addition to curiosities and non-European objects also displayed an extensive collection of natural objects in his house in
Ulm. During Weickmann’s lifetime, knowledge of the narwhal had already spread in Germany and a tusk was now affordable for middle-class collectors, too. EL

NEON
MARTIN CREED (*1968)
WORK NO.280 (FEELINGS), 2003
Neon tubes
Museum Ulm, donation Jörg Johnen
As an artist, musician, choreographer, writer and fashion designer he uses a wide variety of media, methods and materials. Martin Creed is best known for his conceptual light works and installations, in which language, light and space combine to create striking visual statements. The letterings, formed in neon tubes, are installed indoors or outdoors and convey simple but powerful and signal-containing messages in words or short sentences. They are reduced to the essentials, direct, sometimes ironic or provocative and concentrate on core statements that are intended to appeal to the viewer. Precisely because of their apparent simplicity, Creed’s neon works can evoke strong emotional reactions. The isolation and highlighting in bright neon adds new layers of meaning to everyday expressions. SD

NFT
ALEKSANDRA JOVANIĆ
GM.GEN.MATH #255, 2022
Physical: Generative still image, double-sided digital print
Digital original: Custom software (color, mute) / Generative / JavaScript
NFT: https://www.fxhash.xyz/
Project #19883 – Repetition #255, Posted on. 31.05.2024 at 09:45
https://www.fxhash.xyz/gentk/KT1U6EHmNxJTkvaWJ4ThczG4FSDaHC21ssvi-1611836

Attention, it’s getting cryptic! When talking about NFTs in art, it is easy to get confused. Many people initially think of simple computer graphics or digital collectibles with special aesthetics at crazy prices (called collectibles, e.g. Bored Apes, CryptoPunks). This is as wrong as the assumption that an NFT is the artwork itself. A non-fungible token can be issued for anything: It is the digitized form of an asset, a piece of code on a blockchain with information on authorship, ownership or the percentage share in case of resale. For the first time, blockchain technology enables unambiguous, seamless proof of ownership for digital artworks, which are increasingly traded as NFTs and sometimes expanded by physical manifestations. GM.GEN.MATH is a generative artwork by Serbian artist and programmer Aleksandra Jovanić that is executed in the browser. Each iteration contains both a dark and a light version. Online, the D and N keys can be used to switch between day and night. The artist published the work in 2022 on the occasion of a tribute to Herbert W. Franke, fx(hash) produced it physically for the Digital Art Mile at Art Basel 2024. MN

OBSOLESCENCE
REYNER BANHAM (1922-1988) AND TOMÁS MALDONADO (1922-2018)
Photography (Reproduction)
HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm
In March 1959, the British design theorist Reyner Banham visited the Ulm School of Design (or HfG). He gave a lecture on “Consumption and Product Design” as well as one entitled “Democratization of Taste”. A note on the blackboard reveals the most hotly debated vocabulary: “obsolescence”. The word refers to the limited lifespan of technical components planned by the industry. This means that devices are not durable but have to be replaced frequently. Banham defended the concept, while HfG lecturer Tomás Maldonado saw it as the cause of the looming environmental problems. MM

OCKHAM
OTL AICHER (1922-1991)
WILLIAM OF OCKHAM – THE RISK TO THINK MODERN, 1986
Colored paper on cardboard
HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm, Estate of Otl Aicher
Even as a teenager, Otl Aicher read the writings of the theologian and Dominican monk Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). When his office was commissioned to develop an exhibition program for the Munich Reinsurance Company in 1986, the subject William of Ockham was chosen. He was a Franciscan monk educated in Oxford. In 1325/26, he had to justify himself before the Pope in Avignon for heresy. He was able to flee and escape to the court of Ludwig I of Bavaria in Munich. In the 19th century, the phrase “Ockham’s Razor” was created. It is still widespread in the Anglo-Saxon-speaking world today. William of Ockham demanded that the simpler argument should always be preferred in a discussion. The presentation here combines a picture panel with a text panel, as in the book published in 1986 to accompany the exhibition. MM

OFENKACHEL = STOVE TILE
STOVE CREST, EARLY MODERN PERIOD, 17TH CENTURY
Ulm, Rosengasse
Glazed ceramics
Museum Ulm
During excavations in the Rosengasse in Ulm, archaeologists discovered various artifacts from the early Middle Ages to the early modern period – testemonies of everyday life in past eras. This fragment of glazed pottery.was found among them. The format suggests that it was used as the crest of a tiled stove. Tiled stoves evolved in Central Europe in the 10th century and became established in private households in the 12th century together with the parlour as a living room, a smoke-free heated room. From the 14th century onwards, the initially unclad stoves were furnished with clay relief tiles and
thus became a status symbol. Green glazes developed later not only improved the appearance, but also made cleaning easier. The decoration of the stove tiles was determined by the prevailing taste. Motifs such as this figure with a female torso often appear on 17th century stove crests. JL

STOVE TILE “ALLEGORY OF ASTRONOMY”, LATE 16TH CENTURY
Glazed clay
Museum Ulm
On this green glazed stove tile, the viewer looks at a woman leaning on a globe and raising her left arm. She turns her gaze to the putto placed next to her, who is holding a disk-shaped measuring instrument in his hands. This is most likely an astrolabe, which can be used to determine time, take horizontal and vertical measurements and draw up horoscopes. The woman’s wrinkles and flowing hair are giving a dynamic to this depiction. A special depth is created by the architecture surrounding her: a round arch decorated with the date 1588 and the signature VF, with a skull, a guard and a putto’s head on either side. Lions look out at us from the spandrels. The graphic series of the Liberal Arts by Georg Pencz (around 1500 – 1550) probably served as a model for the motif. NR

ORNAMENT
WRITING MANUAL FOR GERMAN AND LATIN SCRIPTS, LATE 16TH CENTURY
Paper
Museum Ulm
J. F. HUNTZINGER
WRITING MANUAL WITH 25 DECORATIVE LETTERS, 1795
Paper
Museum Ulm

Nothing is spared: ornaments adorn buildings, furniture and works of art, they decorate everyday objects, clothing or human bodies, in all cultures worldwide. Some decorative ornaments have a definite shape and their own name, others are unique creations. For centuries, decorative ornmaments have been used in the art of writing: Elaborate letters become page-filling text decorations. In the early modern period, it was the calligraphs and writing teachers who cultivated the art of calligraphic writing as a profession and produced beautifully designed documents or texts for a fee. This small volume from the late 16th century is a sample of their work: on each page, the unknown calligraph demonstrates a different font and turns the capital letters of the first line into a decorative ornament. EL

PAPIER = PAPER
FRIENDSHIP ALBUM, 19TH CENTURY
Cardboard, paper
Museum Ulm
BOOKLET WITH DEPICTIONS OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES, 18TH CENTURY
Cardboard, paper
Museum Ulm
CYLINDRICAL BOX, 19TH CENTURY
Cardboard, paper
Museum Ulm
They decorate book covers or line furniture and boxes: Decorated papers are a centuries-old and often overlooked form of art. The term refers to all sheets of paper that are not made from dyed raw material but are decorated by hand over their entire surface. Each sheet is unique.
Paper marbling is one of the oldest techniques: An additive to the water bath (e.g. Carrageenan) gives the water a slimy consistency. Colours will float on the surface without blending.
With paste paper, the sheet is coated with colored paste, which can be worked into patterns with brushes, combs or fingers when wet. A special pattern is also created when a second sheet of paper is stuck onto the paste paper and then removed again. EL

OTL AICHER (1922-1991)
COLLECTION MAACK PRINTING HOUSE, WITHOUT YEAR
Paper, color sample
HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm
Otl Aicher developed a collection of wrapping papers for Druckhaus Maack in Lüdenscheid with his colleague Monika Schnell and digital colleague Fritz. The product never reached market maturity. The designs are now in the HfG-Archiv, an external department of Museum Ulm. The special thing about this project is the use of a computer at the time. With the machine’s help, Aicher and Schnell were able to create numerous combinations. As so often, Otl Aicher was once again far ahead of his time. Perhaps he would use artificial intelligence (AI) methods today. MM

PARTIZIPATION = PARTICIPATION
Have a say, join in, help shape: The days when museums guarded their collections like a jealous dragon guards its treasure are long gone. Instead, museums are increasingly opening up to the needs and interests of the public. Participation, i.e. social involvement, means actively shaping the program together with the public. New perspectives on the objects and stories that the museum preserves on behalf of the public are in demand. It is no longer up to the curators alone to decide which themes are covered in exhibitions and events and which works of art are on display. The Museum Ulm has already successfully tested swarm curation by many with its online platform nextmuseum.io. What do you want to see at Museum Ulm? Let us know! KF

PFEIFEN = PIPES
CLAY PIPES, EARLY MODERN PERIOD, 17TH CENTURY
Ulm, Hahnengasse
Fired clay
Museum Ulm
These clay pipes, found in the Hahnengasse in Ulm, belong to the so-called heel pipes. The heel connects the bowl of the pipe to its stem and is located on its bottom. The tobacco was filled into the bowl and lit, the smoke cooled over the stem and was thus absorbed over the mouthpiece. The plant ornaments on the fragmented pipe from Ulm is comparable to similar artifacts in Bavaria from the 17th century. As early as the 16th century – with the western colonisation of the American continent and the beginning of tobacco consumption in Europe – pipes enjoyed great popularity. This is indicated by a large number of supra-regional found artifacts After initial production in the Netherlands, there is also evidence of German production sites. From the 19th century onwards, more stable versions made of porcelain and wood prevailed and replaced the clay pipes. JL

BURL TOBACCO PIPE WITH IVORY RING, 19TH CENTURY
Wood, horn, silver, ivory, textile
Museum Ulm
MEERSCHAUM PIPE BOWL WITH THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE SCHAD FAMILY OF MITTELBIBERACH, 19TH CENTURY
Meerschaum, silver
Museum Ulm
Europe’s oldest tobacco pipes date back to the 16th century. Pipe smoking, however, has a much longer tradition where the tobacco plant originally grew: on the American continent.
Those who acquired a taste for tobacco in Europe initially smoked it from clay pipes. Clay was the most common material for a long time before it was largely replaced by pipe bowls made of wood, meerschaum and porcelain.
Meerschaum, the more poetic name of the mineral sepiolite, is easy to work with, fire-resistant and absorbs tobacco flavors well. The grained, hard and heat-resistant wood of the burl, a knotty growth on a tree trunk, was (and still is) particularly popular. In the 18th and 19th centuries in particular, Ulm and the surrounding area produced high-quality burl tobacco pipes, which are still sought-after collector’s items today. EL

PORTRÄT = PORTRAIT
MARTIN SCHAFFNER (AROUND 1478 – AFTER 1546)
PORTRAIT OF EITEL BESSERER, 1516
Mixed media on wood
Museum Ulm
The Ulm patrician Eitel Besserer had himself portrayed during religious devotions. His slightly parted lips are saying a prayer while his hands move a wooden rosary.
The alderman’s coat and hood are trimmed with valuable fur and show wealth and social status. For the painter, on the other hand, the masterfully rendered structure of the fine fur and the luxuriant beard are proof of his artistic skill.
The background of the picture is monochrome blue; only the shadow of the head gives the monochrome surface the impression of spatial depth. EL

HANS-PETER FELDMANN (1941-2023)
PORTRAITS OF CHILDREN, 1977
Photocopies, hand-colored
Museum Ulm, donation Jörg Johnen

More than almost any other artist of his generation, Hans-Peter Feldmann contributed to the democratization of art. Since 1968, he worked conceptually with photography. He collected everyday images and snapshots, which he reworked, copied, cropped or colored and published in series, as booklets or books. An extensive repertoire of unusual things and actions found its way into his oeuvre. The collector-artist used found amateur photographs as the source for his portraits of children. The identities of those depicted, who are hugging their four-legged friends in a situation of intimate familiarity, remain unknown. Despite all their differences, the portraits share an impression of childlike light-heartedness. Hans-Peter Feldmann’s treatment of the children’s portraits blurs the boundaries between high and everyday culture. He asks about the significance of photography for memory and and breaks with the traditional notion of artistic authorship and originality. SD

ARNULF RAINER (*1929)
YELLOW FACE, N.D.
Photograph painted over with oil paint and gouache, scratched, mounted on wood
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried
The type of self-portrait offers artists a good opportunity to engage with their own person. This preoccupation can relate to their artistic profession as well as their personality itself. Arnulf Rainer seemed to want to combine the two. He encompasses the photographic self-portrait with gestural strokes that seem to want to paint over the artist’s face. In contrast to many examples of this genre, the artist has closed his eyes. Is he externalizing an inner conflict between the creator’s soul and the artist’s rationale? MM

FRANZ ANTON KRAUS (1705-1752)
SELF-PORTRAIT, 1734
Oil on canvas
Museum Ulm

The self-portrait shows the painter Franz Anton Kraus, who was was born in Söflingen on January 19, 1705. He studied at the Augsburg Academy under Johann Georg Bergmüller and traveled and undertook journeys which took him, for example, to Venice to the workshop of Giovanni Battista Piazetta, as well as to Paris, Langres, Lyon and Dijon. Here we see him at the age of 29 in a three-quarter portrait. He is looking confidently at the viewer and at the same time pointing to a work of his with his arm. This shows a winged putto with a heart, which could refer to his impending marriage. As he is holding a metal pen and several folders in his right hand, he appears to pause only briefly in his work. He is wearing a bright red velvet skirt and underneath you can see parts of a white shirt. NR

FRANZ SERAPH STIRNBRAND (1788-1882)
CHILD PORTRAIT OF PAULINE OF WÜRTTEMBERG, 19TH CENTURY
Oil on canvas
Museum Ulm
Franz Seraph Stirnbrand was a Württemberg portraitist, whose extensive oeuvre provides a precise insights into society at the time. A particular treasure for researchers are his partially preserved revenue books, which allow a rough assessment of the scope of his work. This portrait shows Pauline of Württemberg (1810- 1856) as a child. Her parents were Prince Paul of Württemberg and Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Hildburghausen. She married Duke Wilhelm I of Nassau on 23.04.1829. Against a black background, she peeks out from behind a velvet curtain with golden tassels. She turns her alert but cautious gaze directly towards the viewer. Her light brown hair is curled around her face in the style of the Biedermeier style. She is wearing a light blue dress with a wide ribbon. Meanwhile, she is sitting on a wall with flowers and supports herself with her right hand. NR

PROVENIENZFORSCHUNG = PROVENANCE RESEARCH
NECKLACE WITH SNUFFBOX (ULMI), AROUND 1880
Zulu, South Africa
Glass, plant fiber, nut
Museum Ulm
Provenance research is a rather new but important branch of study: It investigates the origin and ownership of an object. One of its aims is to identify looted property and uncover unlawful changes of ownership. Provenance research focuses in particular on the Nazi era, during which countless persecuted Jewish people were deprived of their property. Another important field of research are the circumstances under which cultural property from colonial contexts ended up in German collections. In the Washington Declaration of 1998, Germany made a commitment to identify Jewish property looted during the Nazi era and to seek a “fair and just solution” with today’s heirs. Even in the case of colonial cultural assets, transparency, repatriation or compensation are the aim of provenance research in public collections. In 2020/21, the Museum Ulm conducted a research project to examine its holdings from colonial contexts in terms of their origins and their acquisition circumstances. Another three-year project investigated the the additions to the collection between 1933 and 1945. EL

GUILD SEAL OF THE ULM SHOEMAKERS, CA. 1600
Brass
Museum Ulm
In 1936 and 1937, the museum acquired five works from the Munich art dealer Siegfried Lämmle (1836-1953). Although Lämmle did not ask for large sums of money, the museum management beat down the prices in renegotiations.
Siegfried Lämmle and his family were persecuted by the National Socialists because of their Jewish faith; as early as 1935, the Nazi regime demanded the dissolution of his art shop. By 1936 at the latest, Lämmle began to sell off his stock and therefore had no choice but to sell his goods at prices that he would not have accepted under other circumstances and conditions.
The five works were returned to his descendants in 2024 in recognition of the great injustice done to Lämmle by the National Socialist policy of persecution and were reacquired for the Museum Ulm by means of a compensation payment. EL

DRINKING VESSEL IN THE SHAPE OF A SHIP, AROUND 1650
HANS LUDWIG KIENLIN THE ELDER (1591-1653)
Silver, partially gilded
Museum Ulm. Acquired with the financial support of the Kulturstiftung der Länder and the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung.
The silver nef was not only used as a table decoration, but also as a convivial pastime: filled with wine, it was rolled across the table. The person in front of whom the boat came to a halt had to drink it up with the help of the small tube at the bow.
The nef was part of the art collection of Henry (1840-1928) and Emma (1852-1937) Budge, which was auctioned off at the Paul Graupe auction house in Berlin after Emma’s death. The proceeds did not go to the heirs of the Jewish couple, but were confiscated by the National Socialist state. Museum Ulm acquired the nef at the auction in Berlin in 1937.
In 2014, the Budges’ heirs demanded the restitution of the silver nef and of two other silver objects in the museum collection. A compensation payment was made for the nef, enabling it to be legally acquired for the museum again in 2016. EL

QUEER
KEITH HARING (1958-1990)
UNTITLED, 1984
Acrylic paint on cardboard
Museum Ulm, Collection Foundation Kurt Fried

The painting style of the American artist Keith Haring is unmistakable. In his short but intense career, he made street art socially acceptable. Inspired by the graffiti scene, he began leaving his characteristic tags and cartoon-like murals in public spaces in 1980. His expressive messages were largely wordless. Keith Haring was open about his homosexuality and addressed it in his art. He experienced the height of the AIDS crisis at first hand in the 1980s. He actively campaigned for education and against discrimination, homophobia and racism. In 1989, he made his HIV infection public. His commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and his open exploration of queer themes in his art made him an important figure in queer art history. SD

QUELLEN = SOURCES
ANIMAL BONES OF VARIOUS SMALL MAMMALS, DATING OF THE PALAEOLITHIC TO THE NEOLITHIC
Caves in the Bockstein massif
Animal bones
Museum Ulm
Archaeologists seek after and research traces of past cultures Cultures without written records in particular can only be made visible by researching material sources, including features (e.g. pits, house remnants) and artifacts (e.g. tools, pottery). The remains of plants and animals are particularly underestimated types of sources. Finds of tiny bones of small mammals appear insignificant at first, but provide a very high information content. The smaller the animals, the faster they react to changes in the environment and the ecosystem. The remains of mice or lemmings, for example, tell us a lot about the climatic conditions and changes that originally prevailed, as well as about the vegetation of past times. Thanks to the meticulous sieving of earth material during excavations, animal bones are increasingly being discovered today. JL

REGENBOGENSCHÜSSELCHEN = RAINBOW BOWL
TWO GOLD STATERS, LATE IRON AGE/ LATE LATÈNE PERIOD, 1ST century BC.
Surroundings of Ulm
Gold
Ulm Museum
The origin of rainbow cups was unknown until the 18th century. Early scholars thought they were formed out of light. Some searched for them at the end of the rainbow. In the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale “Die Sterntaler”, they fall from the sky as falling stars. In popular belief, they were considered a cure for fever and epilepsy, beneficial during childbirth and as protection against lightning, epidemics and the evil eye. In fact, these are early coins, minted in the years 300 to 50 BC. Gold was used, more infrequently silver and bronze. Greek and Roman coins, which came to our region as wages or booty from Celtic mercenaries, served as models. The rainbow bowls owe their name to their shape and the fact that they are washed out of the ground during heavy rainfall. AS

RETABEL = RETABLE
WINGED ALTARPIECE FROM THE BUXHEIM MONASTERY, CA. 1510
Limewood
Museum Ulm
Altarpieces in the form of a shrine are known as retables. In the late Middle Ages and early modern period, retables were usually equipped with one or two movable pairs of side wings so that they could display different views and religious scenes during the liturgy or throughout the church year. The priest stood in front of the altar and celebrated the mass with his back to the congregation. When open, the altarpiece from the Buxheim monastery shows scenes from the life of Mary; the reverse translates theological texts on the Passion of Christ into pictorial symbols. Small retables such as the one from Buxheim were intended for side altars or the private areas of clerics. Large winged altarpieces on the main altars reached over ten meters in width when opened. EL

RETABLE PARALLAX WORLD, 2024
ANIMATION
Development: Valentin Kiesche, Florimon Poisson, Malik Arslan
Concept and graphics: Mélina Sabatier, Natálie Svehlová, Sydney Maze
A project by MIREVI Lab/ Hochschule Düsseldorf – University of Applied Sciences (HSD)
Under the direction of Anna-Maria Holtmann and Patrick Kruse
Step through the sacred portal of time! Parallax World lets users experience the creation of a late medieval winged altar – from felling wood to visiting the Ulm Minster. Each chapter of the story begins with stepping through a portal. The so-called parallax effect was used for storytelling: Objects that are further ahead move faster than those further back, creating the impression of depth. The animation was created in the winter semester 2023/2024 as a student research project at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Students of media technology, media informatics and communication design developed prototypes for digital applications on late medieval art and the Ulm Minster. The course was supervised by MIREVI Lab (Mixed Reality and Visualization), where Parallax World was also finished after the presentation for the exhibition at the Ulm Culture Night 2024. MN

RÜCKSEITE = BACKSIDE
JÖRG STOCKER (APPROX.1461 – AFTER 1527)
AND BARTHOLOMÄUS ZEITBLOM (APPROX.1455 – APPROX.1518)
St. AGNES AND ST. DOROTHEA (FRAGMENT) / VISITATION, AROUND 1500
Oil on panel
Museum Ulm

Anyone looking at late medieval paintings in museums often comes across fragments. They originate from altarpieces whose wooden wings were painted on both sides with religious depictions. In order to produce more manageable formats for the art market, large altarpieces in particular were often sawn into individual pictures before being sold. The Visitation comes from the outside of one such wing, where it shows the life of Mary together with four other scenes of the same size. On the back are the remains of a much larger motif that covered the entire 2.5-metre-high inside of the wing and showed the saints Margaret, Agnes and Dorothea in front of a golden background. The blue surface was decorated with carved and gilded tendrils. The remaining parts of the inner wings can be found today in museums in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Dublin. EL

TIMM ULRICHS (*1940)
PICTURE BACK I, 1961-68
Black and white photograph on canvas
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried
Art is life, life is art. Against the backdrop of a conceptual approach, Timm Ulrichs developed the idea of the total artist, who deliberately blurs and questions the boundaries between artistic forms of expression and disciplines, between art and everyday life. He humorously and playfully examines familiar patterns of perception and traditional views on the concept and nature of art. He explores all genres of art, takes terms literally, uses tautologies and linguistic ambiguities to translate them into visual thought pieces. Timm Ulrichs vividly stages the change of perspective, when he elevates the reverse side of a canvas to the status of a central motif. The reverse side becomes the view side, which is undoubtedly irritating, but also makes us smile. SD

SAMMLER*IN = COLLECTOR
GERHARD RICHTER (*1932), KURT FRIED AND HANS JÜRGEN MÜLLER, 1966
Oil on canvas
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried

The Museum Ulm would not be what it is today without private foundations and donations. This applies in particular to the Kurt Fried’s collection, which the publisher and cultural journalist Kurt Fried donated to the city of Ulm in 1978. It comprises over 400 works. One of the influential figures in shaping this collection was the gallery owner Hans-Jürgen Müller from Stuttgart. He can be seen in the painting by Gerhard Richter together with the collector Kurt Fried (left), who was so very important to him. The occasion is Fried’s 60th birthday in 1966. The work is based on a snapshot. In the black and white photograph, the wine bottle is clearly recognizable, which the gallery owner presented to his collector as a gift. It is a stroke of luck that this moment was captured by Gerhard Richter, one of the most important German artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and translated into a painting. At the same time the painting undermines every expectation of monumentality and depiction associated with portraiture. MM

SCHERENSCHNITT = SILHOUETTE
ANNE KATHRIN FURUNES (*1961)
PORTRAITS FROM ARCHIVE (PORTRAIT II), 2016
Aluminum, punched
Museum Ulm, donation Klaus Benden
Her portraits captivate with their special technical execution. Anne Kathrin Furunes perforates black canvas surfaces or aluminum plates to create large-format portraits of photorealistic quality and illusionistic depth of space through the almost painterly use of tiny perforations. What appears close up as an abstract pattern of light and dark, light and shadow, reveals black and white portraits of pictorial precision when viewed from a distance. In her choice of motifs, the Norwegian artist draws on a rich pool of historical photographs, particularly of women from the early 20th century. By using these archive images, she addresses questions of identity, collective memory and historiography. Her works invite us to reflect on the people depicted and their biographies. SD

MONUMENT TO FRIENDSHIP OF MARIE OF WÜRTTEMBERG, 1817
Silhouette
Museum Ulm
Silhouettes are an artistic technique that originated in China in the 4th to 6th centuries. In the 17th century, the craft also reached Europe and enjoyed great popularity. The motifs are very diverse and range from individual and group portraits to figurative and ornamental depictions. There is also an enormous range of materials, from supposedly simple black and white techniques to precious colored motifs. The black silhouette shown here depicts the profile of a woman. She is framed by two tendrils, which form an oval frame that ends in a bow at the bottom. This is held by two winged putti, each raising a flaming torch. This special framing once again emphasizes the importance of the woman. NR

RENÉ ACHT (1920-1998)
UNTITLED, N.D
Aluminum, punched and cardboard, trimmed
Museum Ulm, donation Bärbel Acht
1/ exhibited from Nov. 22, 2024 until March 10, 2025
2/ exhibited from March 11 to June 16, 2025
3/ issued from June 17 to September 21, 2025
The term silhouette describes an artisanal technique in which a mostly figurative work of art is created from paper or another flat material by skillfully cutting it out or away. The contrast between dark paper on a light background emphasizes the cut-out motif. The tradition of paper cutting has its roots in Asia. Over the past centuries, however, it has developed into a folk art practiced worldwide. It has become an innovative transdisciplinary form of expression for the fine arts. René Acht made targeted use of silhouettes as a technique for his abstract geometric compositions. He reduces them to the essentials in order to create precise forms and to investigate the visual effect and interaction of lines and surfaces in the pictorial space. During his lifetime, he thus made an important contribution to the development of concrete art in a new media guise. SD

SCHMUCK = JEWELLERY
ARM SPIRAL, EARLY BRONZE AGE, 2000 BC.
Nattenhausen
Copper
Museum Ulm
PIN WITH POPPY HEAD, LATE BRONZE AGE, 11TH-10TH CENTURY BC.
Erbach
Bronze pin
Museum Ulm
“SNAKE FIBULA”, EARLY IRON AGE/ LATE HALLSTATT PERIOD, AROUND 500 BC.
Ehingen-Kirchen
Bronze
Museum Ulm
TWO MELON BEADS, ROMAN PERIOD, 1ST-2ND CENTURY AD.
Unterkirchberg
Glass frit
Museum Ulm
TWO EARRINGS, EARLY MIDDLE AGES/ALAMANNIC PERIOD, 5TH-7TH CENTURY AD.
Ulm, railroad station
Bronze earrings
Ulm Museum
TWO PEARL NECKLACES, AND VARIOUS BEADS BEADS,
EARLY MIDDLE AGES/ALAMANNIC PERIOD, 5TH-7TH CENTURY AD.
Ulm, railway station; Ulm Grimmelfingen
Various materials
Ulm Museum
People have always enjoyed decorating themselves. Jewellery served both practical and decorative purposes, especially as an expression of identity, social affiliation and status. Arm coils and pins were already worn in pairs by women in the Bronze Age. Arm coils with an angular central rib are older than the pins with poppy head of the Late Bronze Age. Later, Iron Age fibulae replaced the needles as garment clasps. Snake fibulae with a loop-shaped bow are particularly common in the 6th to 5th century BC. The subsequent production of beads made of glass or glass-like products in Europe continued in Roman times. Melon beads adorned necklaces and horse harnesses. Beads remained very popular in the Alamannic period; they can be found strung as necklaces in women’s burials and indicate their high social status. JL

THOMAS DAWO (*1941)
A PAIR OF ROUND CUFFLINKS, N.D.
Gold with black inlay
A PAIR OF SQUARE CUFFLINKS, N.D.
Gold
HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm, Estate of Prof. William S. Huff
Thomas Dawo studied at the Ulm School of Design from 1956. As he did not have a high school diploma, he had to take an examination in various subjects specially arranged for him. He passed and was accepted into the information department. However, he asked for a one-year leave of absence in 1957. He eventually moved to Düsseldorf, where he worked as a goldsmith and silversmith. Today, his works can be found in the Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart, among others. The HfG-Archiv received these two pairs from the estate of William S. Huff, who was once a student and lecturer at the HfG and knew Thomas Dawo from this time. Thomas Dawo was able to show his goldsmith work at the World Exhibition in Montreal in 1967. MM

PORTRAIT OF HELENA BALDINGER, 1652
Oil paint on canvas
Museum Ulm
The portrait shows Helena Baldinger together with a dog. Against a dark background to the left of her head you can see the coat of arms of the Baldinger family, including the year of of the painting.
Her clothing, consisting of a black dress with lace sleeves and a wide ruff, is comparatively simple. However, she is adorned with numerous precious jewels: she wears several golden finger rings with precious stones on her hands. She wears golden, beaded bracelets on her wrists. Her waist is accentuated by a belt with ornamental decoration. And around her neck she wears a golden, double-layered link chain. Her hair is gathered under an elaborate hood. She also holds a pair of gold-embroidered leather gloves in her left hand. And she is not the only one who is richly dressed; her four-legged companion also has red and silver bows braided into his fur. His gaze is turned towards his mistress with a rather wistful expression. NR

ERNST MOECKL (1931-2013)
TWO BRACELETS AND TWO RINGS, CA. 1957/58
Spring-hard stainless steel
HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm
The jewellery designed by Ernst Moeckl was created for Christa Pohlschröder, who studied in the product design department at the Ulm School of Design from 1957 to 1960. Together with Max Bill, Ernst Moeckl developed the door handle that is installed throughout the HfG building. He belonged to the first generation of the HfG, where he studied from 1954 to 1958. He also used metal for his diploma thesis. He submitted a cutlery design as the practical part. The jewellery was created as a free work. Jewellery design had never been a subject taught at the HfG Ulm. MM

SCHÖNE ULMERIN = BEAUTIFUL LADY OF ULM
MICHEL ERHART (AROUND 1440/45-AFTER 1522)
RELIQUARY BUST OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE, AROUND 1475
Limewood, partly with original polychromy
Museum Ulm
The late medieval half-figure of a young woman came to the museum in 1916 as a Lüsterweibchen: it served as a decorative part of a chandelier made of deer antlers. Originally, however, the work by sculptor Michel Erhart had a different function: the square recess in the figure’s chest contained relics – pieces of bone, tiny remnants of clothing or other particles of saints. The half-figure stood on an altar as a reliquary.
After the Reformation, the former reliquary was repurposed as a chandelier. It is now known as “The Beautiful Lady of Ulm” and is one of the most famous sculptures of Ulm’s late Gothic period. It is not known who coined this flattering name for her. EL

SCHWERT = SWORD
FULL-HANDLED SWORD, RIEGSEETYPE, LATE BRONZE AGE, 1200 BC.
Illertal near Gerlenhofen
Bronze
Museum Ulm
This Bronze Age sword was unearthed by an excavator in a gravel pit in the Iller valley in 1963. Gravel originally formed the river terraces of the Iller. This and eight other swords discovered there were river finds. There was probably a prehistoric traffic route in the area of the gravel pit, along which the swords found were sunk over a longer period of time. The people of the later Bronze Age (1200-800 BC) and later Iron Age (450-50 BC) deposited objects as part of ritual acts at natural sacred sites with a special location, such as bodies of water, peaks or moors. Preferred objects were apparently weapons such as swords, daggers and spearheads; tools or jewelry were rather rare. JL

SWORD WITH SCABBARD MADE OF RAYSKIN, BEFORE 1659
So-called Gold Coast (today Ghana)
Iron blade, hilt covered with ray skin, studded with sheet gold; Horsehair, leather, plant fiber, wood
Museum Ulm, Kunstkammer Christoph Weickmann
The sword with its scabbard is an object from the Kunstkammer of the Ulm merchant Christoph Weickmann (1617-1681). He had bought it from the Augsburg patrician Johann Abraham Haintzel, who had received it as a gift from the Day (imperial governor and treasurer) of the Fetu from what is now Ghana. The ceremonial sword consists of an iron blade which ends in a handle covered with ray skin and studded with sheet gold. There is black horsehair at the end of the handle. The accompanying scabbard made of ray skin shows individual flaws, which may have once contained applications. This is not a unique piece – a similar sword is in the collection of the National Museum in Copenhagen. NR

SILBER = SILVER
ANDREAS SCHUCH ATTRIBUTED TO (CA. 1634-1686)
PORTRAIT OF HELENE EHINGER, 1683
Oil on canvas
Museum Ulm
The portrait of Helene Ehinger shows her in a three-quarter view. The coat of arms of the Ehinger family can be seen to her right against a brown background, which is given depth by a pillar on the left. To her left is a table on which lie embroidered gloves and a silver-bound book, and over a bright red skirt she wears a black dress that opens in a V-shape at the front. The silver needle lace (possibly Venetian) on both the petticoat and the dress deserves special attention. While the lace on the underskirt shines silver-gold, it is silver on the dress. The sleeve ends are decorated with by a wide lace including red ribbons. In addition her décolleté is emphasized by a lace border, over which she wears a golden, beaded necklace. The color scheme of the clothing allows the silver lace to unfold its full effect. It is clear from her clothing that she belongs to a wealthy and influential Ulm family. NR

CASPAR MAYER (1668-1722)
SILVER BOOK BINDING, N. D.
Silver, paper
Museum Ulm
Have you seen this book before? You can find a very similar copy in the portrait of Helena Ehinger. Books were a precious commodity in those days. To increase their value, they could be enhanced and personalized with a book cover made of silver. Religious scenes can be found on this cover. The right-hand cover, for example, depicts the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. The scene is framed by three angels, a putto with a laurel wreath and the Holy Spirit. The spine is adorned with a medallion surrounded by two putti heads and flowers. In contrast, the left-hand cover depicts a scene taking place inside – a banquet. The floor, the columns and the canopy lend spatial depth to the whole design. And there are even figurative depictions on the two book covers. With these sculptural and detailed narratives, Caspar Mayer has created a special work of silver art. NR

SPIEGEL = MIRROR
JEPPE HEIN (*1974)
MIRROR ANGLE, 2005
Mirror
Museum Ulm, donation Jörg Johnen
With his mirror works, Jeppe Hein examines the relationship between architecture, art and the viewer. The installations consciously react to the specific context of an exhibition venue and integrate the surroundings into the artwork. The clever placement and arrangement of floating mirror balls or geometrically arranged mirror columns and angles create surprising perceptual phenomena and altered spatial experiences, optical illusions and unexpected perspectives. They encourage active participation and turn observers into co-creators. Jeppe Hein’s mirror works enable shared immersive experiences and promote interaction between the viewers. They become part of the artwork by seeing themselves and their surroundings reflected. SD

SPIELEN = PLAY
THREE FIGURES IN SHAPE OF A RIDER AND TWO LIONS,
EARLY MODERN PERIOD, 1ST HALF 17TH CENTURY
Ulm, Hahnengasse 25 (former Sebastian Chapel)
Fired clay
Museum Ulm
During renovation work at Hahnengasse 25 around 1988, numerous artifacts were discovered. There was a chapel here until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, after which accommodations were built for needy Ulm residents. During the renovation, workers filled the false ceiling with vessel fragments, clay pipes, stove tiles and clay figurines of the early modern period, including these two lions and the rider. The animals only resemble their living models to a limited extent; the mount is less reminiscent of a horse than a pig. The rider, on the other hand, is depicted in great detail. With his sweeping hat, doublet with frilled collar, top boots and sash, he reflects the fashion of the 17th century. As today, equestrian and animal figures were mostly used by children to act out scenes such as riding games. They represent the adult world and the everyday life of the nobility or bourgeoisie. How did the toys end up as filling material? This remains an open question today. JL

POCHSPIEL PLATE, CA. 1780
Faience (Schrezheim manufactory)
Museum Ulm

GEORG WEINMILLER
DECK OF CARDS WITH GERMAN COLORS, 1651
Paper, metal leaf, gouache
Museum Ulm
Games of chance with dice or cards were considered a sinful pastime by the church. However, this never affected their popularity among all sections of the population, nor their importance as a commodity. Card-making workshops have been documented in the imperial city of Ulm since the Middle Ages; Ulm playing cards were packed in barrels and exported to Italy and France. All cards of a pack were printed together on a large sheet of paper and only then cut apart. More elaborate packs are colored or engraved and painted on metal leaf, such as the deck of cards published by Georg Weinmiller in 1651 with the German “colors” acorn, foliage, heart and bells. The faience playing board is also part of a card game, the so-called “Pochspiel”. The eight oval recesses are used to hold the playing money. EL

MARTIN HESS (*1941)
ROCKING MACHINE, 1966/67
Glass fiber and polyester, leather
HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm
The Ulm School of Design (HfG) repeatedly produced designs for toys and equipment. However, there was no specialized training in this field. With the establishment of a plastics workshop, the new material was also used for toys. Martin Hess, a student at the HfG from 1964, took up the popular children’s theme of the rocking horse, which he reproduced in an abstract manner using fibreglass. He dispensed with the legs and extended the torso to the standing surface, so that runners formed along the entire length. This resulted in a flat curve that invites you to rock. Only the tail made of leather strips and the hint of a head are reminiscent of the original shape of the animal. The laterally braced runners make the device tip-proof. MM

STEINBEILE = STONE AXES
THREE STONE AXES, NEOLITHIC PERIOD, 5TH- 4TH MILL. BC.
Ulm Friedrichsau; Ulm-Mähringen
Rock/stone
Ulm Museum
There have been many traces of settlement in and around Ulm since the Neolithic period. In addition to house remnants and pottery artifacts, such as those from the 5th millennium BC in Ulm Lehr, individual artifacts such as these stone axes from the Friedrichsau in Ulm and Ulm-Mähringen also point to the presence of groups of settlers in the Neolithic period. From the 6th millennium BC, a sedentary way of life based on agriculture and animal husbandry became established in Europe. People began to actively shape and alter their environment. To build their elongated houses, they felled trees with stone axes, which they shafted with the help of wood and interlayered antlers. In addition to building houses, they also used the tools for clearing land and constructing wells. JL

STONE AXE, BEFORE 1659
Basalt, wood, plant fiber
Ulm Museum, Kunstkammer Christoph Weickmann
In 1659, the Ulm merchant Christoph Weickmann described the stone axe made of basalt, which he had recently acquired for his collection of curiosities, natural objects and non-European artifacts, as a “thunder axe” with a shaft made of palm wood. The strange name has a history: for a long time, prehistoric stone axes found here and there were thought to be by-products of thunderstorms, in which lightning would shoot the stone wedges into the ground like projectiles.
Christoph Weickmann’s stone axe is certainly not prehistoric – and neither particularly convincing as a tool nor as a weapon. The shafting with a split wooden handle and a wrapping of plant fibers cannot hold the heavy basalt stone in such a way that the axe would have striking power. The aim of the unstable construction was probably primarily to create an impressive “thunder axe” – and a collector’s item for buyers like Christoph Weickmann. EL

TEAM
Museums have the task of protecting the tangible and intangible natural and cultural heritage and making it permanently accessible to society. Collecting, preserving, researching, exhibiting and communicating are the classic fields of museum work. The team at the Museum Ulm is made up of colleagues with a wide range of training, expertise and professional experience who are qualified to fulfill these core tasks. However, the role of museums has increasingly changed in recent years. New job profiles and skills are in demand, for example in the areas of museum management and fundraising, educational work and marketing, outreach and media use. The Museum Ulm is undergoing a comprehensive process of transformation in order to continue to work optimally in the future, respond to internal and external needs and achieve new social relevance. The transformation into a sustainable cultural institution and a lively place of cultural identification and encounter also has an impact on the internal organizational and personnel structure as well as the development of new cross-sectional tasks. SD

TEXTIL = TEXTILE
MEN’S WAISCOAT, 18TH CENTURY
Linen, silk, lamé, silver embroidery
exhibited from Nov. 22, 2024 until March 10, 2025
MEN’S WAISCOAT, 18TH CENTURY
Linen, silk, sequins
on display from March 11 until June 16, 2025

MEN’S WAISCOAT, 18TH CENTURY
Linen, silk, silver embroidery, sequins
on display from June 17 until September 21, 2025
Museum Ulm
Silk stockings and breeches, a frilled shirt, a sleeveless waistcoat and a long coat – this was the attire of the fashion-conscious gentleman in the 18th century. The well-heeled had their waistcoats tailored and richly decorated from silk fabrics. Multicolored silk threads, sequins or metallic threads reflected the candlelight at evening parties and ensured an elegant appearance. Only the visible parts of the waistcoat were decorated. The back, which remained hidden under the coat, consisted of cheaper fabrics. If body measurements changed, darts, lacing or added pieces of fabric provided an inconspicuous remedy. The threads dyed with plant dye fade over time. Today, the original splendor of colour can only be admired in hidden areas. EL

ANNE CARNEIN (*1982)
THE TIME II, 2017
Fabric remnants, yarn, wire
Museum Ulm
1/ exhibited from Nov. 22, 2024 until March 10, 2025
I LOOK OUT AND INSIDE ME GROWS A TREE, 2019
2/ exhibited from March 11 until June 16, 2025
HERBARIUM IV, 2018
3/ exhibited from June 17 until September 21, 2025
Anne Carnein’s art invites us to rediscover the complex beauty, fragility and fleetingness of nature and at the same time to reflect on its relationship to art and civilization. With precision, extraordinary care and attention to detail, she develops sculptures that imitate mushrooms or plants with all their underground and above-ground details in a deceptively realistic way. She observes the structure, growth forms and colors and translates these into graceful, seductively tactile structures made of fabric remnants, which she sews by hand with colored yarns and shapes using wires. Anne Carnein uses fabrics and yarns like a painter uses a color palette and pencil. By using used textiles from worn items of clothing, she transfers the theme of organic life cycles to the idea of recycling or upcycling. SD

BARTHOLOMEW DAUHER (LAST DECADE OF THE 15TH CENTURY IN ULM)
PORTRAIT OF URSLUA GRECK, 1491/92
Oil paint on softwood
Museum Ulm
Ursula Greck is depicted in this three-quarter profile portrait. It can be assumed that there was an earlier portrait of her husband. The sitter is a wealthy lady from the patrician family of the Brandenburgs from Biberach. She married Bartholomäus Greck, a patrician from Ulm who held the office of parish priest. The influence of the Greck family is clear from the costly clothing. She is wearing a figure-hugging black two-piece dress with a plunging neckline adorned with a golden chain. The right half of her bodice is richly embroidered with oak leaves and pearls. Her sleeve is also adorned with a tiara holding a crown in her hands. Below her is a heart with a V, which could be a reference to the sitter. The transition from the bodice to the black skirt is emphasized by a belt. Her hair is hidden under a ball cap and her hands are adorned with rings. NR

TONLAMPE = CLAY LAMP
FOUR CLAYLAMPS, ROMAN PERIOD, 1ST – 2ND CENTURY AD.
Illerkirchberg-Unterkirchberg
Burnt clay
Museum Ulm

Portable lamps brought light into the darkness long before candles and electric light existed. In Roman times, people used clay lamps into which they poured olive oil through small holes in the top. A wick led to the opening at the snout, where the flame was generated. Two of the lamps on display here are so-called picture lamps with volute-shaped snouts and pictorial decoration, in this case a dolphin and Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. The other two examples, Firmalampen with elongated snouts, are partly undecorated and bear the maker’s stamp on the underside. The imprint FORTIS refers to the manufacturer of a lamp. His workshops were located in northern Italy and in provinces north of the Alps. The four lamps were found in urn burials at Unterkirchberg in the vicinity of a settlement. They presumably should light the way fort he dead on their journey to the afterlife. JL

TOTENKRONE = FUNERAL CROWN
FUNERAL CROWN OR PRIEST’S CROWN, 19TH CENTURY
Various metals, textile
Museum Ulm
Until well into the 19th century, funeral crowns were used in some regions at the burial of children or unmarried persons: the crowns, often elaborately made from metal threads, fabric, small pearls or gemstones, stood on the coffin during the service. After the funeral, they were donated to the church in commemoration of the deceased – or reused as a rental crown at other funeral services
As a symbol of a spiritual wedding, such crowns were for a long time also part of the first mass of a newly ordained Catholic priest. The crown was presented in procession to the church and placed next to the altar during the liturgy. EL

UNDING = AN ABSURDITY
PIERO MANZONI (1933-1963)
MERDA D’ARTISTA (RE-EDITION, EDITION: 9000), 2013
Mixed Media
Museum Ulm
In 1961, Piero Manzoni challenged the boundaries of good taste and shocked the art world with his Merda d’artista (artist’s shit). He packaged his own excrement in cans, sealed them and offered them for sale at a gold price, in order to criticize the absurdity of art market prices and the fetishization of artists’ works. Manzoni’s provocative work creates ambiguity and tension. It questions the myth of the artistic genius. It declares the artist’s body to be a means of production. And it demonstrates the powerful ability of the artist to declare his excretions a work of art by definition, thereby transforming the worthless into the valuable. The industrial packaging method reflects the consumer culture and mass production of the post-war period. In the sense of conceptual art, the value of the artwork lies in the idea, not in the actual content. SD

URUSHI-LACK = URUSHI LACQUER
NINE-SIDED BOWL WITH HANDLE, BEFORE 1659
Wood with textile reinforcement, black lacquer, scattered decoration in gold, mother-of-pearl
Ulm Museum, Kunstkammer Christoph Weickmann
Japanese lacquerware was a difficult product from an economic point of view: due to their high prices, they were not sold well enough in 17th century Europe. However, the shiny and flawless surfaces were admired: they were created in a complex process in which the resin of the urushi tree was applied and polished in countless thin layers.
From 1634, the Dutch trading company VOC ordered cheaper goods in Japan especially for the European market. This nine-sided bowl, on the reverse of which the lacquer is still well preserved, is such a typical export piece. In order to keep the price low, urushi was combined with cheaper resins. The lavish decoration with mother-of-pearl flakes and gold dust further reduces the proportion of lacquered surfaces. EL

USA
ELLSWORTH KELLY (1923-2015)
ORANGE BLUE, 1964/65
Oil on canvas
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried
The painting relies entirely on the effect of contrasts. Orange and blue are placed inside each other, combined with the shape of the oval and the rectangle. The flat, oval shape in orange seems to lie heavy and immovable on the ground within the much larger blue surface. The oval also touches the left and right flanks of the picture, as if it wanted to burst them. The sheer size of the canvas contributes to the overwhelming effect. Ellsworth Kelly did not want to paint a picture that represented a thing. Rather, he tried to present pictures as objects that stand for themselves. In notes published in 1969, he spoke of the paintings being objects, unsigned and anonymous. MM

ROBIN PAGE (1932-2015)
AMCHITKA MONUMENT, 1971
Mixed media
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried
In the North Pacific Bering Sea, the US nuclear authority set up a test site for nuclear tests in the early 1960s. Amchitka Island, 35 miles long and almost three miles wide, is one of the Rat Islands in the Aleutian chain of islands. A total of three underground explosions took place here. In 1971, the year of the third and last explosion, this work of art was also created. At the time, the third explosion was considered the largest underground nuclear test in the world. The bomb weighed around 5 megatons. The shaft through which the bomb was lowered into the ground collapsed two days after the test. It created a crater that was more than a mile in diameter and about 60 feet deep. Robin Page placed the axe exactly at this sensitive spot. In 1972, it was possible to prove that radioactive contamination had escaped. However, the nuclear authority did not make the incident public. MM

VERMITTLUNG = MEDIATION
Cultural mediation creates connections – between objects and visitors, between the museum and urban society, between past, present and future, between different forms of knowledge et cetera. At the same time, mediation is as diverse as the people for whom and with whom it is created. With our mediation work, we want to keep revisiting objects and themes from 40,000 years of history of art, culture and design and connect them with the present. This also means that we are constantly developing inclusive, diverse and participatory ways of learning from and with each other through art, culture and design, sharing perspectives and producing knowledge together. VZ

WUNDERKAMMER = CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
JOSEPH ARNOLD (1646-1674/75)
KUNSTKAMMER OF THE REGENSBURG FAMILY DIMPFEL, 1668
Gouache
Ulm Museum
A room so crammed with all kinds of treasures that the viewer doesn’t know which object to look at first – be it the globe hanging from the ceiling, the skull or the collection of cannons of different sizes. The Kunstkammer of the Dimpfel family from Regensburg provides a rare historical insight into a bourgeois Kunstkammer. Cabinets of art and curiosities or cabinets of natural history have been popular since the 16th century and can be seen as the origin of today’s museums. Initially found in aristocratic and ecclesiastical contexts, they were also created by wealthy merchants in the 17th century. In some cases, they were subject to strict classification systems, some of which can still be found in today’s museum structures. NR

X-RAY
NICK VEASEY (*1962)
DOLLS, 2017
X-ray images
FEMALE AND MALE DOLL
Mixed Media
Museum Ulm
Much of our world is obscured by a blinding superficiality. It is a phenomenon of our time that Nick Veasey comments on in order to simultaneously serve our curiosity and make the invisible visible. His artistic interest does not stop at the entrails of lifeless utilitarian objects. Nick Veasey’s artistic interest lies in the creation of extraordinary X-ray images. In an elaborate process of digitally stitching and retouching individual parts of the image, he has even managed to X-ray a Boeing 777. Like all of his X-ray images, the theater puppet images also allow a revealing insight into the secret inner life of the figures in the Ulm Museum’s collection. SD

XS-XXL
MINIATURE PORTRAIT OF PHILIPP ADOLF SCHAD, LATE 18TH CENTURY
Gouache on parchment
Museum Ulm
The sitter is Philipp Adolf Schad, the son of Albrecht Friedrich Schad and Sib. Juliane born Schermar, who was born on November 26, 1776 and died on June 27, 1800. He was an ensign in the Ulm contingent and is portrayed in profile in this position. He is wearing a deep blue uniform with white lapels and a white vest. On his head he wears a bicorne hat with a star-shaped silver medal. Due to the diameter of just 3.5 cm, this work of art is a miniature. At the beginning of the 16th century, this art genre gained in importance. It is characterized by an extremely fine and exact reproduction. This is also evident in the portrait of Philipp Adolf Schad, whose facial features show a delicate mouth, a fine, straight nose, alert, gray-brown eyes and a slightly and a slightly curved eyebrow. NR

THOMAS MÜLLER (*1959)
UNTITLED (FS 224), #TM 4529, 2017
Pencil on laid paper
Museum Ulm
Thomas Müller’s pencil drawings are visual explorations that invite the viewer to immerse themselves in a world of lines, shapes and interstices and to experience the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. Fine, precise lines intertwine to form complex structures and arrangements that create the impression of three-dimensionality and depth of space. Thomas Müller’s works on paper can reach monumental proportions. They testify to an intense concentration on the drawing process, fascinate through their technical execution and open up mental spaces for a variety of associations and interpretations. SD

YELLOW
THOMAS DEYLE (*1957)
SCARABAEUS VOLCANO, 2021
Acrylic on acrylic glass
Museum Ulm
The observation of light and shadow on dented vehicle panels has awakened Thomas Deyles’ fascination for color gradients. For 30 years, color and light have been the leitmotifs of his artistic work. Color is the content and subject of his purist paintings. It is surface and space. From the edge of the picture to the center, rectangular or rounded areas of color condense into spatial appearances. Like pigment mist, they seem to float in and beyond the transparent acrylic glass supports. The illusion of color spaces of unfathomable depth arises, and the prerequisite for this sensory impression is an elaborate painting process. Thomas Deyle uses a plastic roller to apply up to one thousand wafer-thin glazes of color. Gently vibrating color gradients are created by the more or less saturated layers of different color tones. SD

YUPPIE
GEORG FRIEDRICH PFANDZELT (1685-1765)
WOLFGANG JAKOB HAAG AT THE AGE OF 17, 1741
Oil paint on canvas
Museum Ulm
Young, urban and career-oriented: The yuppie (young urban professional) of the 1980s and 1990s was the cliché type for anyone who wanted to get off to a good start.
Wolfgang Jakob Haag, a teenager living in the imperial city of Ulm, clearly still has big plans: At the age of seventeen in 1741, he had Georg Pfandzelt, a sought-after portrait painter, paint him in a self-confident pose. The gray powdered wig and the blue frock coat with wide cuffs were in fashion in the 1740s. Completely inappropriate for the scion of a bourgeois family, however, is the lavishly puffed-up red coat that lies over the left shoulder like a cape. Like the landscape background, it is reminiscent of to portraits of nobility and rulers. In real life Wolfgang Jakob would have been ridiculed in Ulm with such a garment – on the screen, he becomes a well-to-do young dandy with prospects. EL

ZAHLEN = NUMBERS
CALIBRATION VESSEL FOR THE ULM MEASURMENTS (KEPLER’S CAULDRON)
DESIGN: JOHANNES KEPLER (1571-1630)
CAST: HANS BRAUN (1588-1639)
Bronze
Museum Ulm

In 1627, the mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler was commissioned by the Ulm council to develop a new calibration system for the units of measurement commonly used in the city: the centner, bucket, cubit, shoe and the grain measure Ime. Kepler designed a bronze cauldron in which all these measurements are related to each other: The weight of the empty cauldron corresponds to 3 ½ centner or one bucket. When filled with liquid, the cauldron weighs seven centners; its contents are therefore also equivalent to 3 ½ hundredweights or a bucket. The diameter is one cubit, the depth 2 shoes. If you fill the vessel 64 times with grain, you get 90 Ime. Kepler’s cauldronstood in a public building and could be used as a standard measure for checking the various measures of length, volume and weight used in Ulm. EL

ROBERT INDIANA (1928 – 2018)
SIX, 1965
Oil on canvas
Museum Ulm, Foundation Collection Kurt Fried
Pop artist Robert Indiana drew on the design of street signs or billboards for his number paintings. The six in the title appears to have been painted with a stencil. Numbers like this are typical for paintings in which Indiana depicted single-digit numbers from 1 to 9 as well as the 0. He used bright colors, which he combined in strong contrasts. Indiana himself attributed his fascination with numbers to the fact that he had already lived in 21 different houses by the time he was 17. Numbers could have different meanings for him. For example, 1 stands for birth, 0 for death. Kurt Fried turned 60 in 1966. Perhaps that is why he acquired the work for his collection. MM

ZÄHNE = TEETH
LOWE JAW BRANCH OF A CAVE BEAR; FRAGMENT OF A CAVE HYENA JAW; MOLAR TOOTH OF A MAMMOTH; TWO WILD HORSE TEETH
MIDDLE/LATE PALEOLITHIC 60,000-10,000 BC.
Bocksteinschmiede

CANINE TOOTH OF A CAVE BEAR, UPPER PALEOLITHIC 40,000-10,000 BC.
Stadel cave in the Hohlenstein (Lone Valley)
PENDANT MADE FROM THE TOOTH OF A CAVE BEAR, UPPER PALAEOLITHIC (AURIGNACIAN), 30,000 BC.
Cave in the Bockstein (Lone Valley)
Museum Ulm
Excavated animal teeth provide archaeologists with important information about the environment and human habits in past times. They can enable the identification of the respective animal species and contribute to the knowledge about the diet of the animals. In the Swabian Alb, Paleolithic people hunted glacial herd animals such as wild horses and reindeer, which regularly travelled through the Lone Valley. The hunted prey was an important food and material resource. Mammoths and predators such as cave hyenas and cave bears, on the other hand, were probably less frequently targeted due to their large size and strength. People used perforated animal teeth as pendants or as an adornment of clothing. They also skilfully crafted figurines of animals, humans and hybrid creatures such as the lion-man from the tusks of the mammoths. JL

ZEICHNUNG = DRAWING
ROBERT WETZEL (1898-1962)
DRAWING OF A WEDGE KNIFE
Graphite drawing on paper
Museum Ulm
WEDGE KNIFE, LATE MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC, 100.000-43.000 YEARS BC.
Cave in the Bockstein (Lone Valley)
Chert
Museum Ulm

An archaeological excavation also implies a destructive intervention in the subsoil that cannot be reversed. It is therefore very important to document the exact surroundings of an artifact, i.e. the circumstances and archaeological context of the artifact. In this way, this information remains traceable for the future and provides a link for further research. In addition to photography, surveying and written documentation (e.g. in diaries), drawings are an important part of the documentation. This method is used to document the stratigraphic context as well as the artifacts themselves. In the case of stone artefacts, such as these Neanderthal wedge knives from the Palaeolithic period, details about their fabrication and adaptation become particularly identifiable in this way. Archaeologists continue to draw on paper today, but digital drawing programs are mostly used by now. JL

ZEIT = TIME
VALENTIN STOS THE ELDER (1709-1785)
LONG CASE CLOCK, 1778/79
Museum Ulm
The clockmaker Valentin Stos considered it to be his best work: He worked on the long case clock with the crowning automaton for almost six years. In 1779, he offered it to the city council of Ulm for the courtroom in the town hall. He waived payment for his working time and only asked for reimbursement of the material value of 500 guilders, which he received.
The clock has four movements (double hour strike, quarter hours and chime), moon phase and lever escapement. It is crowned by Chronos, the god of time, whose hourglass turns every time the hour strikes. The hourglass refers, like the scythe and wings, to the finite nature of human life. A resting man lying at Chronos’ feet with a water-filled bowl and a (lost) small tube forms water bubbles – they too are a sign of the fleeting moment and transience. EL

ZEITBASIERTE MEDIEN = TIME-BASED MEDIA
DAVID CLAERBOUT (*1969)
CAT AND BIRD IN PEACE, 1996
Single-channel video, monitor, without sound. Loop
Edition A/P
Museum Ulm, donation Jörg Johnen
David Claerbout is a master in the use of digital image technologies, high-resolution animation techniques and their possibilities of manipulation. His works, in which he explores the relationships between time, duration, stillness and movement, always operate at the interface between photography and film. The video artist’s work presented here shows a cat sitting harmoniously next to a bird. The image of this unusual and seemingly impossible scene initially appears static and yet contains imperceptible movements. The cat blinks occasionally, while the bird looks left and right from time to time. The animals seem to ignore each other. No element of tension or danger clouds the peaceful coexistence of cat and bird. It symbolizes an utopian state or the overcoming of natural instincts. Cat and Bird in Peace is a fascinating example of how digital art can sensitize the perception and experience of time and and reality. SD

NAM JUNE PAIK (1932-2006)
BIO NEURAL NET, 1992
Video sculpture, painted canvas over wooden case, four 13” television sets, media player, neon tubes, objets trouvés
Museum Ulm, gifted by Friends of the Ulm Museum e.V.
Nam June Paik is considered a pioneer of video art. In a video installation entitled TV Buddha from 1974, he unites the different cultures in which he lives and works. In Bio Neural Net, the artist shows homogeneous video sequences on four screens. They are more effective due to their shimmering movement than by the individual colorful images. At the center of the video sculpture is a human outline. Individual bodily functions are partly indicated by found objects (objets trouvés) or technical components: glasses stand for the eyes or a shoe last for the feet. Lines run across the body. In acupuncture, they indicate the connections of the physical extremities, such as the hand and foot, with the internal organs. The Korean characters to the left and right of the figure mean heart, soul and body as well as longing and body. MM

ZIERSCHEIBE = DECORATIVE DISK
DOUBLE PERFORATED AND ORNATE LIMESTONE DISCS,
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, 4TH MILL. BC.
Ehrenstein
Jurassic limestone
Museum Ulm
The Neolithic settlement of Ehrenstein is located near Ulm. The wetland settlement is part of the UNESCO World Heritage of prehistoric pile dwellings. Archaeologists have discovered numerous perforated limestone discs there during excavations since 1952. These include blanks, semi-finished products and fully decorated copies. The Neolithic inhabitants perforated the round discs twice in the middle and decorated them on one side with incised lines around the edge. Flint blades were used for this process; the lines were either arranged in a straight line or in pointed triangular bundles. The incisions were then backed with dark birch pitch. No other comparable artifacts of this size are known to date. The utilisation of the discs has not yet been conclusively clarified and remains a mystery. What might their function have been? JL

AQUAMANILE
NEWLY FOUND
“I hear some people say that they eat unwashed. If this is true, it seems bad to me; their hands should become lame”
(Source: Tannhäusers Hofzucht, 13. Jh.)
EXCAVATION
A new building has been under construction at Olgastraße 121 in Ulm since 2022. Archaeologists have found settelment traces in its building pit: Remains of roads, walls, fences and small buildings. They come from garndens that were located in front of the northern city wall in the Middle Ages.
The most important finds include fragments of aquamaniles: Vessels für washing hands in the shape of rams, centaurs and knights on horseback.
Detail of a landscape painting from the 16th century. At the bottom of the picture are the gardens in the area of today’s Olgastraße. Photo: Stadtarchiv Ulm.
Aquamanile during the excavation at Olgastraße 121. Photo: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege / S. Harding (ArchaeoConnect).

TABLE MANNERS
Aquamaniles are vessels for cleaning the hands
(Latin aqua = water, manus = hand). Valuable pieces are made of bronze, cheaper ones of ceramic. They are an integral part of ritual hand washing during religious services, as well as for cleanliness at the table.
Regular hand washing was important as people in the Middle Ages mainly ate solid food with their fingers.
Aquamanile on the panel painting of a winged altarpiece from Hirschegg (Austria) from the year 1503. Diözesanmuseum Graz, Inv-Nr. 6830.0002.02/02. Photo: Institut für Realienkunde – Universität Salzburg.
TALLOW LAMPS AND TABLEWARE
The aquamaniles from Olgastraße lay broken in a medieval rubbish pit. Fragments of tallow lamps and tableware were found there.
It is not known how these pieces ended up outside the city wall. Perhaps it was waste from the town or the remains of a feast in the garden? AS