The birthplace of the important Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens moves with the times. The Museum of Contemporary Art Siegen is dedicated to current positions in art, from painting, photography and video to spatial and time-related installations. Thanks to the private Lambrecht-Schadeberg collection, artists such as Sigmar Polke, Lucian Freud and Emil Schumacher have also found a second home in the Siegerland.
In 1957, the city of Siegen awarded the Rubens Prize for the first time. In memory of the city's great son, Peter Paul Rubens, born in 1577, European painters and draughtsmen were henceforth to be honored for their artistic life's work. Hans Hartung made the start. The most recent winner in 2017 was the Swiss conceptual artist Niele Toroni. In between are names such as Antoni Tàpies (1972), Cy Twombly (1987), Lucian Freud (1997) and Maria Lassnig as the first prizewinner (2002).
300 works by the Rubens Prize winners
The Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen has the private Lambrecht-Schadeberg Collection to thank for the fact that her representative work remained in the city of Siegen. Visitors can now marvel at around 300 works by all the Rubens Prize winners in changing collections in the old telegraph office of the city of Siegen. The rather calm still lifes by Giorgio Morandi, the expressive color landscapes by Emil Schumacher and the existential portraits by Francis Bacon form exciting contrasts. They all bear witness to the diversity and joy of experimentation in the recent history of European painting.
Objectivity and a conceptual artistic approach, however, define the collection of contemporary art with installation art, photography and video. The cornerstone is the work of the artist couple Bernd and Hilla Becher. Their works of Siegerland half-timbered houses, industrial landscapes and winding towers are photographed in a documentary style and arranged in groups. The buildings captured in the images bear witness to a living and working environment that is gradually disappearing.
