MUNICH.- On the occasion of his 85th birthday and in honour of H.R.H. Franz, Duke of Bavaria, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München is showing a suite of masterpieces from the artworks held by this connoisseur and passionate collector. These works will be presented as part of the exhibition series IM BLICK in the rooms of the Graphische Sammlung. Major graphic works, which have been compiled over decades with great sensitivity and expertise, reflect in the finest and most illuminating way the historical context of the cultural scene in Munich since the 1960s. Current and international trends have been recognised and evaluated by this individual collector with all the enthusiasm that he brings to modern art. And this has unmistakably shaped their selection of works. As gifts and items on permanent loan that the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung has received, the works on paper have for years dramatically enriched the museum’s own stock of modern and contemporary art. This, in turn, has perpetuated the outstanding reputation of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in this particular field of art – and also on the international stage, where for decades now it has enjoyed enhanced status vis-à-vis other museums.

At the beginning of the 1960s, Munich – like many other German towns and cities at that time – was in the fervent grip of the euphoria for a new understanding of modern art advocated by individual young enthusiasts. It was their aim, shortly after the "zero hour" (“Stunde Null”) in Germany, not simply to restore the status of classical modern art in the public mind but – along with taking account of local trends – to link up with international developments in contemporary art. Noteworthy gallery and museum exhibitions were held and important works acquired for the collections in Munich. In retrospect, the list of artists who presented in Munich at that time, reads like a Who’s Who of the then avant-garde.

The significant ensemble of drawings, a selection of which are currently on show here at the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung under the title A Tribute – Masterpieces from the Collection of Franz, Duke of Bavaria, bear witness to this verve for the new approach to modern art. The sheets are a reflection of the exemplary engagement of young, enthusiastic patrons, among them most prominently the Duke, who vigorously advocated the promotion of contemporary art in Munich from the 1960s onwards. And in 1965, they founded the „Galerie-Verein“ to promote collections in precisely this field of art. Now known as the Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne (PIN.), the friends of the Pinakothek der Moderne continue untiringly with their commitment to advance the cause of modern art. And just recently, H.R.H. Franz, Duke of Bavaria, as one of the first founding members, enriched the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München with major works from the graphic artworks of A. R. Penck, Hermann Glöckner and, not least of all, of Georg Baselitz.