Gallery Looks. Modeinszenierungen in der Gemäldegalerie

In the field of tension between art and couture, the "Gallery Looks" exhibition sheds light on the encounter between the Old Masters and contemporary fashion - in design, photography, film and haute couture. It combines different artistic approaches and shows how fabrics, cuts, colors and stories are reflected in the various media and interwoven into lively narratives.

Shooting between style and fabric

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Berlin Salon in February 2025, 55 designers presented contemporary German fashion design between works by the Old Masters in the Gemäldegalerie. Immediately before the opening, photographer Ralph Mecke staged selected designs for the magazine ACHTUNG in the halls of the Gemäldegalerie, which were presented by models. To accompany this, Florian Azar created an atmospheric video that translates the shoot into poetic, moving images. The film and photographs are shown in the exhibition and impressively illustrate the close connection between fashion and art.

Art meets couture

In the summer of 2025, the picture gallery served as a source of inspiration for Jonathan Anderson, the new creative director of Dior, for his Summer Show 2026: For his presentation in front of the Hôtel des Invalides, he had a backdrop built that was faithfully modeled on the halls of the Picture Gallery - a tribute to a place he describes as one of the most beautiful museum spaces in the world. Two original paintings by Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) completed the setting. In the "Gallery Looks" exhibition, video recordings of the show can be seen alongside one of Chardin's Berlin paintings, impressively illustrating the interplay of historical and contemporary elements in Anderson's designs.

Painting and fashion - a mirror of the times

In addition to films and photographs, the exhibition also presents designs by selected designers in dialog with top-class paintings. This encounter reveals surprising parallels in the examination of aspects such as expression, beauty, identity and social roles. For the exhibition, the designers Anne Bernecker, Plaid-à-Porter / Estelle Adeline Trasoglu, Karen Jessen and Alexander Gigl developed new works or provided designs that interact with the paintings on display. In this way, the close links between artistic tradition and contemporary design become visible. Fashion becomes a medium of re-appropriation and transformation, art-historical motifs are transferred to the present and new perspectives are opened up in the process.

Curator

The exhibition is curated by Katja Kleinert.

Fashion concept: Christiane Arp

Exhibition focus on fashion

At the same time as "Gallery Looks", the exhibition "Fashion X Craft: Echoes of Tomorrow" will open at the back of the Wandelhalle. The exhibition shows how five young designers translate traditional craftsmanship into contemporary fashion. From February 3 to 22, 2026, Der Berliner Salon will also be showing fashion designs by young designers in dialog with the permanent exhibition of the Gemäldegalerie.

Media cooperation: Monopol

A special exhibition of the Gemäldegalerie of the National Museums in Berlin