Romane Holderried Kaesdorf (1922-2007) is one of the most unconventional voices in contemporary graphic art in southwest Germany. Now, for the first time, the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is dedicating a major solo exhibition to her, making visible the work of an artist who consistently opposed the dominant trends of her time. While abstraction became the dominant language of art after 1945, Holderried Kaesdorf remained uncompromisingly committed to drawing. She picked up her pencil almost daily for five decades and developed an unmistakable visual language characterized by both sharpness and subtle humour.
Romane Holderried Kaesdorf's works seem like experimental arrangements of everyday life. Women and men handle chairs, stools or cupboards, they test postures, try out gestures, appear awkward or stubborn. These scenes, often laconically titled with long sentence fragments, move between observation, irony and absurd theater. Titles such as "Vor der Tür kriechend" (1963) or "Merkblatt, wie man ein kleines Brett mit einer Hand hält, wie man ein kleines Brett mit 2 Händen hält" (1990) add an additional layer of meaning to the sheets - precise, dry and yet carried by subtle comedy.
Romane Holderried Kaesdorf, 1 Frau schiebt den Stuhl, am Rand Turnerinnen, 1980, mixed media on paper, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart © Estate of Romane Holderried Kaesdorf / Photo: Frank Kleinbach, Stuttgart
It is striking that Holderried Kaesdorf's female figures always appear more agile, self-confident and present than the male ones. From the mid-1970s onwards, women completely dominate her drawings. Whether the "International Year of Women" in 1975, proclaimed by UNESCO, was an impetus remains a matter of speculation - what is certain is that the artist repeatedly reflected on the role of women in culture and society, even if she did not explicitly see herself as a feminist.
The exhibition shows works from all creative phases: early surreal-looking scenes, the multi-layered images of men and women from the 1960s and 1970s, through to late series in which she condensed her figures into trenchant signs with just a few strokes. Supplemented by loans from private and public collections, a panorama is created that makes the stylistic development of this extraordinary draughtswoman comprehensible.
Although museums became aware of Holderried Kaesdorf early on - the Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart purchased works as early as 1953 - the reception of her work remained primarily limited to Baden-Württemberg. Preserving Attitude now focuses on an artistic oeuvre that has significance far beyond the region: Drawings whose clarity, independence and quiet radicalism open up a new perspective on the possibilities of the medium.
September 27, 2025 to April 12, 2026
www.kunstmuseum-stuttgart.de
Romane Holderried Kaesdorf, Allegorische Bildhauerinnen mit Plastik, 1989, mixed media on plywood, Zweckverband Oberschwäbischem Elektrizitätswerke (OEW) / District of Biberach © Estate of Romane Holderried Kaesdorf / Photo: Steffen Dietze
