BERLIN.- The Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin has opened a remarkable new exhibition titled YES TO ALL. The Paul Maenz and Gerd de Vries Donation. The show celebrates the extraordinary generosity of art patrons Paul Maenz and Gerd de Vries, who have entrusted the museum with nearly 900 works on paper—one of the most significant gifts in its recent history.

A Legacy of Generosity

This is not the first time the two collectors have enriched the Kupferstichkabinett. Back in 2004, they donated 250 works, setting the foundation for what has now become a long-lasting relationship with the museum and its supporting society, the Graphische Gesellschaft zu Berlin. “With this donation, they send a strong signal of civic commitment to museums and enrich our collection with first-rate and multifaceted works,” said museum director Dagmar Korbacher at the opening.

From Conceptual to Expressive

The exhibition offers an overview of around 200 works selected from the donation. Visitors encounter a fascinating spectrum: drawings, collages, print portfolios, letters, and postcards by artists such as Joseph Kosuth, Hans Haacke, Hanne Darboven, Robert Barry, Enzo Cucchi, Anselm Kiefer, Bruce Nauman, and Sylvie Fleury.

The title YES TO ALL is borrowed from Fleury’s work of the same name, where she scrawled the phrase in red lipstick on bright white paper—combining the aesthetics of advertising with a feminist edge. Her piece embodies the breadth of the exhibition, which spans conceptual, language-based art of the 1960s, the sensual energy of the Italian Transavanguardia of the 1970s, and the wild expressionism of Germany’s Neue Wilde in the 1980s.

Six Thematic Chapters

The show unfolds in six chapters, beginning with “Writing Systems,” which explores language as image and idea, and moving through Italian and German expressive movements to a section dedicated entirely to Hans-Peter Feldmann, whose complete editions are now held by the museum thanks to the donation. A special space, From the Engine Room, takes visitors behind the scenes, displaying the correspondence of Maenz and de Vries with artists like Hanne Darboven and Giulio Paolini, alongside personal objects that reveal friendships and networks built over decades.

A Grateful Conclusion

The exhibition closes on a fitting note with Feldmann’s screen print THANK YOU (2002)—a gesture that mirrors the museum’s own gratitude. More than an art display, YES TO ALL is a tribute to collaboration, generosity, and the rich dialogues that shape contemporary art history.