Giorgio Morandi in Deutschland. Documenta, Rubenspreis und die Folgen

In the organizer's words:

The Italian Cultural Institute Cologne presents an encounter with Christian Spies on the topic: Giorgio Morandi in Germany. Documenta, Rubens Prize and the consequences, which will take place on Wednesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Theatersaal. The discussion will be moderated by Stefano Agresti.

Since 1955, the city of Siegen has endowed the renowned Rubens Prize, an art prize awarded every five years in memory of the baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, who was born in Siegen in 1577. The prize honors important German and European contemporary artists for their life's work. The 2nd Rubens Prize winner was the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi in 1962. In reference to this, the Lambrecht-Schadeberg Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Siegen has put together one of the largest Morandi collections outside of Italy and, after more than 20 years, has once again organized a major retrospective (Morandi. Resonances, until 22 March 2026). The discussion will also focus on collecting and exhibiting Italian modern art in Germany since the post-war period.

Christian Spies is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the University of Cologne and curator of the exhibition "Giorgio Morandi. Resonances".

Stefano Agresti is an author and curator. He has been a curatorial assistant at the Kunsthalle Mannheim since 2025.

In German with simultaneous translation