The New Leipzig School (german: Neue Leipziger Schule) is a movement in German painting, centred in the city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

after the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. The usage and origins of this term are debated.

History and characteristics

The Alte Leipziger Schule (Old Leipzig School) is a term for the original Leipziger Schule (Leipzig School), established no later than 1977, after the involvement of

Werner Tübke Werner Tübke (30 July 1929 in Schönebeck, Germany – 27 May 2004 in Leipzig, Germany) was a German painter, best known for his monumental '' Peasants' War Panorama'' located in Bad Frankenhausen. Associated with the Leipzig School, he is "on ...

, Wolfgang Mattheuer and Bernhard HeisigThe New Leipzig School
Arthur Lubow, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 8 January 2006. Das Unbehagen mit der Neuen Leipziger Schule
''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the '' Frankfurter ...

'', 2 March 2008. with

documenta 6 documenta 6 was the sixth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 24 June and 2 October 1977 in Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hess ...

. The students of those artists, including Sighard Gille and Arno Rink, are considered to be the second generation of the Leipziger Schule (Leipzig School). The Neue Leipziger Schule (New Leipzig School), is the third generation of the movement, and relates to the post-

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governmen ...

climate of modern Germany. It is still closely linked with the

Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig The Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) or Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig is one of the oldest art schools in Germany, dating back to 1764. The school has four colleges specializing in fine arts, graphic design, photography and new media ar ...

. It usually refers to the students of Gille and Rink,Neuen Leipziger Schule: Die stille Revolte
Christian Schüle, ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History Th ...

'', 21 July 2005. Available in Englis
here
but occasionally those of Rolf Kuhrt or even Heisig or Tübke. Its works tend to be characterised by a combination of figurative and abstract elements. The list of painters that are classified in this school includes

Neo Rauch Neo Rauch (born 18 April 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany; ) is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. His work reflects the influence of socialist realism, and owe ...

,The AI Interview: Neo Rauch
Robert Ayers, ''

ARTINFO Louise Blouin Media is an art magazine and book publishing company based in New York City. Founded by Louise Blouin,. Archived March 18, 2006. it publishes the magazines '' Art+Auction'', ''Gallery Guide'' and ''Modern Painters''. It owns , a Fr ...

'', 6 June 2007. Christoph Ruckhäberle and

Matthias Weischer Matthias Weischer (born 1973 in Elte, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany) is a painter living in Leipzig. Weischer is considered to be part of the New Leipzig School. Life Matthias Weischer studied painting from 1995 to 2001 and received hi ...

. Others who have been associated with the term include Tim Eitel, Tilo Baumgärtel, Christian Brandl, David Schnell, Aris Kalaizis, Martin Kobe, Michael Triegel,

Ulf Puder Ulf Puder, born 1958 in Leipzig, is a German painter. He is educated at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig The Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) or Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig is one of the oldest art schools in Germany, ...

, Rosa Loy and

Axel Krause Axel Krause, born 23 October 1958 in Halle (Saale), is a German painter and graphic artist. He is associated with the New Leipzig School and lives and works in Leipzig. He studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig in 1981–1986 ...

. A significant role in the commercial success of the "New Leipzig School" was played by the gallery owner Gerd Harry Lybke, who introduced the works of Rauch in particular to the globally important American art market. Other Leipzig artists were able to achieve international acclaim in the wake of this, such as the Greek-German painter Aris Kalaizis. Parallels can be seen between these successes and those of the

Young British Artists The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...

. Also crucial for the Leipzig painters' success was Matthias Kleindienst,International Hotspot, Hip Community or Art Ghetto? – the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei
Sigrun Hellmich,

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange ...

, July 2009. gallery owner and head of the

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

ting workshop at the

Hochschule ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right t ...

, whose search for talent paved the way for many young Leipzig artists, including Weischer. Another major factor in their market success was the "LIGA" art project, established in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in 2002 under the direction of Christian Ehrentraut, a former collaborator with Lybke. Many artists and galleries associated with the Leipziger Schule are based in the west of Leipzig, and at the Spinnerei in Plagwitz.

References

External links

Leipziger Schule: Geborgtes Leben
Hanno Rauterberg, ''

'', 14 July 2006. {{Authority control Contemporary art organizations Culture in Leipzig German artist groups and collectives