In addition to the artist's work and oeuvre, the exhibition also presents her networks and artistic environment. For the first time ever, the artistic oeuvre of photographer Eva Wagner-Zimmermann (1928-2015), a close friend and long-time companion of Evelyn Richter, will be presented.
Like Richter and Ursula Arnold, she studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig. After leaving the HGB in 1954 and moving to West Germany, Eva Wagner married the physicist Wolfhart Zimmermann in 1957. She often accompanied her husband on his trips abroad. Whenever possible, she photographed everyday life on the street - in Mexico, Paris and New York. The circle of friends is complemented by the Berlin-based sculptor Christa Sammler (*1932).
The exhibition is divided into two sections in terms of space and content. In an exhibition section on the third floor, works by the four friends Ursula Arnold, Evelyn Richter, Christa Sammler and Eva Wagner-Zimmermann are presented in three rooms. Their different paths in life are reappraised and contextualized - also in order to approach the question of how women of their generation were able to work as artists.
Eva Wagner-Zimmermann, stone hippopotamus, Mexico City, 1958, private collection © Eva Wagner-Zimmermann
A second exhibition section in the basement focuses on Evelyn Richter as a photobook artist. The photo book offered Richter the ideal prerequisite for presenting her pictorial concept. The self-contained book form enabled the definition of a stringently composed sequence and the development of a narrative image structure. Her completed books on David Oistrakh, Paul Dessau and the non-fiction book Entwicklungswunder Mensch are presented in layouts, proofs and portrait photographs. The previously little-noticed books Klaus Störtebecker. Dramatische Ballade in sechs Episodenand Sorbische Volkstrachten, both from 1959, are presented. Unrealized book projects on the topics of "Women in the GDR" and "Library buildings in the GDR" are on display.
November 17, 2023 to March 17, 2024
