The years 1950-1955 of the intense love affair between the painter Werner Berg and the poet Christine Lavant were reflected in hundreds of letters. Their significance for the work of both artists is documented on the basis of major works created during this period. Together with Christine Lavant's poems and letters, the paintings reveal the existential dimensions into which the two artists were able to penetrate.
The focus and core of the exhibition are the years 1950-1955 of the intense love affair between the painter Werner Berg and the poet Christine Lavant. The significance of this dramatic period for the work of both artists is documented on the basis of major works created during this time. Christine Lavant's life and work are presented in cooperation with authoritative archives such as the Robert Musil Institute, Klagenfurt, and the Hans Schmid Private Foundation, Vienna, with photos, documents, ephemera, autographs, audio and film documents, reviews, certificates and examples of her artistic work.
Werner Berg, Christine Lavant, 1951, oil on canvas, Österreichische Galerie im Belvedere
The documentation of the great poet's life is embedded in the pictorial world of Werner Berg, the love of her life. Around 120 oil paintings, woodcuts, watercolors and drawings show not only the work of the years 1950-1955, which were so formative for the painter, but also the series of his magnificent portraits of the poetess. The pictures reveal - in direct conjunction with Christine Lavant's poems and letters - the existential dimensions into which the two artists were able to penetrate. Life in the small farming environment - in the village world characterized by poverty and deprivation, which was the focus of many different themes for both artists from different approaches - is brought to life visually. The exhibition is accompanied by the recently published comprehensive biographical documentation of Klaus Amann and the authorized, critical publication of the entire correspondence between the two artists, which reveals the highs and lows of a love affair that took them both to the brink of fatal collapse. The complete edition of this correspondence, like Klaus Amann's biography, undoubtedly represents a sensation for literary experts and the art-interested public and will change and shape the view of the life and work of the two artists in the long term thanks to the extensive documents that have been blocked until now.
Werner Berg, Defeat, 1954, oil on canvas, Werner Berg Museum Bleiburg | Pliberk
As never before, insights into the concrete, often extremely precarious living and working conditions of the two artists become possible - their dreams and hopes, their upswings and downfalls, their happiness and despair. Christine Lavant and Werner Berg - two exemplary artistic existences. Outstanding loans from public and private collections make the exhibition a unique event for literary and art scholars as well as for the interested public.
The art façade campaign, this time with Werner Berg/Christine Lavant motifs, will also be held in 2024. Large-scale façade designs will extend the exhibition into the city center. Such an extension of the presentation in the museum into the public space, which defines an entire urban ensemble, is now a unique feature of the cultural town of Bleiburg/Pliberk. Curator: Dr. Harald Scheicher
May 1 to October 31, 2024
www.wernerberg.museum
Exhibition 2024 in the sculpture garden
The exhibition "Hortensia - the breath of bronze" will be shown in the museum's sculpture garden - as in 2023, but with slight adaptations.
May 1 to October 31, 2024
www.hortensia.at
Book tip: Above falling stars
Christine Lavant | Werner Berg
The correspondence published by Wallenstein Verlag
edited by Harald Schleicher and Brigitte Strasser
In their letters, the lovers are immediately on fire - the poet Christine Lavant and the painter Werner Berg. The fateful love affair between Christine Lavant and Werner Berg between 1950 and 1955 was reflected in hundreds of letters. The letters document an existential artistic connection beyond all conventions, which repeatedly pushed both artists to the brink of fatal collapse.
After their separation, Christine Lavant fell silent as a poet. The complete edition of the letters, which were blocked for decades, allows us to feel the heights of happy emotional exuberance and the abysses of despair and is unquestionably a sensation simply because of its enormous scope and the openness that spares no taboo. The letters provide an insight into the dreams and hopes, ups and downs, happiness and despair of two very special people.
