Kasper König
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Rudolf Hans "Kasper" König (; 21 November 1943 – 9 August 2024) was a German museum director and curator. He curated exhibitions of works by
Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
and
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
in the 1960s, initiated the ''
Skulptur Projekte Münster Skulptur Projekte Münster (Sculpture Projects Münster) is an exhibition of sculptures in public places in the city of Münster (Germany). Held every ten years since 1977, the exhibition shows works of invited international artists for free in d ...
'' in the 1970s, founded the
Portikus Portikus is an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Frankfurt am Main, that was founded in 1987 by Kasper König. The museum is part of Frankfurt's Museumsufer (Museum Riverbank). Portikus presents the work of both internationally renowned ar ...
hall and became a professor at the
Städelschule The Städelschule, full name Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from around 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 ...
in Frankfurt in the 1980s, and was director of the Museum Ludwig in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
from 2000 to 2012.


Early life

Rudolf Hans König was born in
Mettingen Mettingen is a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Mettingen is situated approximately 25 km east of Rheine and 20 km west of Osnabrück. Neighbouring places Neighbour villages of ...
on 21 November 1943, the youngest of six children.


Career

König worked as a volunteer at the Rudolf Zwirner gallery in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
in 1962, focused on pop art and other current art. In 1963 he moved to London where he worked for galleries Annely Juda and Robert Fraser, and also attended lectures in art history at the
Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. The art collection is known particularly for ...
. He was set-up assistant at the Documenta III in 1964, on a recommendation by Arnold Bode. In 1965 he travelled to New York City, as a courier on behalf of the Robert Fraser Gallery, where he then lived intermittently until 1978. He adopted the given name Kasper in the mid-1960s. He worked on exhibition and publication projects for European museums and as an art dealer. He established contacts with artists including
Carl Andre Carl Andre (September 16, 1935 – January 24, 2024) was an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures. His sculptures range from large public artworks (such as ''Stone Field Sculpture'', 1977, in ...
,
Richard Artschwager Richard Ernst Artschwager (December 26, 1923 – February 9, 2013) was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism. Early life and art Artschwager was born in Washington, D. ...
,
Hanne Darboven Hanne Darboven (29 April 1941 – 9 March 2009) was a German conceptual artist, best known for her large-scale minimalist installations consisting of handwritten tables of numbers. Early life and career Darboven was born in 1941 in Munich. She ...
,
Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...
,
On Kawara was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in SoHo, New York City, from 1965 until his death. He took part in many solo and group Art exhibition, exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976. Early life Kawara was born in Kariya, Japan on ...
,
Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...
, Gordon Matta-Clark,
Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...
,
Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
and
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
. He attended lectures in anthropology at the
New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers ...
in New York City. König was an assistant to Oldenburg, and he represented Stockholm's
Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...
in New York. He curated his first exhibition with works by Oldenburg at the Moderna Museet in 1966. In 1968 he founded a publishing firm together with his brother Walter. In 1969 he curated a major exhibition of works by Warhol in Stockholm. From 1973 to 1975, König taught as an associate professor at the
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public university, public art school, art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution tha ...
in Halifax, Canada. Also in 1973, he founded a publishing firm there, ''Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design'', publishing a series of art books names ''Source Materials of the Contemporary Arts''. Invited by from
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
, he initiated and directed ''
Skulptur Projekte Münster Skulptur Projekte Münster (Sculpture Projects Münster) is an exhibition of sculptures in public places in the city of Münster (Germany). Held every ten years since 1977, the exhibition shows works of invited international artists for free in d ...
'' in 1977, an exhibition of large sculptured in public space in the town, which has been held regularly in a cycle of ten years, and is regarded as one of the most important open-air exhibitions of the world. König became professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1985. He founded
Portikus Portikus is an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Frankfurt am Main, that was founded in 1987 by Kasper König. The museum is part of Frankfurt's Museumsufer (Museum Riverbank). Portikus presents the work of both internationally renowned ar ...
, an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Frankfurt, in 1987. He taught as professor at the
Städelschule The Städelschule, full name Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from around 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 ...
in Frankfurt from 1988 to 2000, heading it as its rector from 1989. From 2000 to 2012, he was director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne.


Personal life

König was married to Ilka Schellenberg who was daughter of
Walter Schellenberg Walter Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German Schutzstaffel, SS functionary during the Nazi era. He rose through the ranks of the SS, becoming one of the highest ranking men in the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) and ...
. Their son is the New York City-based art gallerist Leo Koenig. He was later married to the actress . Their son Johann König is a Berlin-based art dealer. The marriage ended in divorce. His third wife, Barbara Weiss, a gallerist from Berlin, died in 2016. His fourth wife was Heidi Specker. König lived in New York, Antwerp, Frankfurt, Cologne, and finally in Berlin. König died in Berlin on 9 August 2024, at the age of 80.


Legacy

Before his death, König donated around 50 works from his art collection to Museum Ludwig, including pieces by
Pawel Althamer Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian: Павел; Czech, Slovene, and (although Romanian also uses Paul); ; ; ) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel may refer to: People G ...
, Maria Eichhorn, Isa Genzken,
Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...
, Thomas Hirschhorn,
Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. Her work focuses on the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, projectio ...
, Richard Long and
Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...
. In 2024, shortly after his death, around 400 works sold from König's private holdings – including works by
Richard Artschwager Richard Ernst Artschwager (December 26, 1923 – February 9, 2013) was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism. Early life and art Artschwager was born in Washington, D. ...
, Thomas Bayrle, William Copley,
On Kawara was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in SoHo, New York City, from 1965 until his death. He took part in many solo and group Art exhibition, exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976. Early life Kawara was born in Kariya, Japan on ...
and Sigmar Polke – raised around €6 million ($6.5 million) during a series of sales that took place at the headquarters of Van Ham auction house in Cologne. Kawara’s ''May 7, 1967'', the sale’s top lot, went for €1.06 million with fees, setting a record for one of the artist’s date-centered works


Exhibitions

* 1966: ''
Claes Oldenburg Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
'', at
Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...
in Stockholm * 1968: ''
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
'', Stockholm * 1973: '' A. R. Penck'' * 1974: ''
On Kawara was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in SoHo, New York City, from 1965 until his death. He took part in many solo and group Art exhibition, exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976. Early life Kawara was born in Kariya, Japan on ...
'' * 1976: ''Aspects of Recent Art from Europe'', Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York City * 1976: ''
Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...
'' * 1976: '' Michael Asher'' * 1981: ''Westkunst. Zeitgenössische Kunst seit 1939'', Rheinhallen Cologne, with Laszlo Glozer * 1984: '' von hier aus – Zwei Monate neue deutsche Kunst in Düsseldorf'', hall 13 of the
Messe Düsseldorf Messe Düsseldorf GmbH is a German Trade show, trade fair company based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company operates one of the largest exhibition grounds in the world and is one of the leading international organizers of trade ...
* 1993: ''Der zerbrochene Spiegel'', Kunsthalle Wien, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, with Hans Ulrich Obrist * 1993: ''
Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...
'' * 1997: Gregor Schneider * 1997: ''
Sultan's Pool The Sultan's Pool (; ) is an ancient water basin to the west side of Mount Zion, Jerusalem. The Sultan's Pool was part of the water supply network for Jerusalem from the late Second Temple period to the late Ottoman Empire, Ottoman period. Today, ...
'', Jerusalem Biennale * 2000: Art program of the
Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were ...
in Hanover * 2003: Austian pavilion at the
50th Venice Biennale The 50th Venice Biennale, held in 2003 (15 June-2 November), was an exhibition of international contemporary art, with 64 participating nations. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Prizewinners of the 50th Biennale inc ...
* 2014: (as chief curator) ''
Manifesta Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...
10'',
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...


Awards

* 2000: Award for Curatorial Excellence from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College * 2005: Honorary doctorate
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public university, public art school, art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution tha ...
in Halifax * 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guggenheim Foundation


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Kasper 1943 births 2024 deaths German art curators German art historians German curators People from Steinfurt (district)