ABRAHAM DAVID CHRISTIAN


ABRAHAM DAVID CHRISTIAN
DIE SPRACHE DES MENSCHEN | THE LANGUAGE OF MAN


Preface


In the era of the exhibition event, it is increasingly difficult to present the work of an artist who is neither one of the louder
type nor does he call attention to himself by way of extra-artistic events which might receive recognition outside the feuilleton.
Present-day exhibition practises are apparently not designed to accommodate an artist who has been working consistently
for many years on a formal language which he hopes can be understood across many cultural and ethnic boundaries.
Fortunately for such long-term artistic concepts and the resulting artworks themselves, there are still collectors and
museums possessing both an awareness of their likewise long-term responsibilities and a lot of staying power, as it was
once expressed by Reiner Ruthenbeck. According to the UNESCO, the tasks of museum work are to collect, preserve, research
and convey. It is interesting to note that the task of conveying – carried out primarily, if not exclusively, in the form
of exhibitions – is last in this logical sequence that makes up the basic law of museology. For the top of the list is where it
might sooner be expected in view of the ever louder calls for museums to intensify the event character of their shows and
thus increase visitor volumes.
We must resign ourselves to the fact that any attempt to stop the accelerating wheels of our society’s event culture
would presumably be futile. But it befits the museums well at least to throttle the speed now and then, for they are the institutions
that collect, preserve and research art, to the extent that they can still find the time to do so. Art: that important good
that provides testimony of how we have treated it, and with it our cultural self-conception. And it is very much to be hoped that
in the far-distant future, when the sensations of the instant have long faded from memory, this testimony will be favorable.
In the past decades, museums have received the increasing support of committed art admirers who have compensated
for the steady dwindling of culture budgets by taking on the role of collectors and preservers to a substantial degree: They
help as sponsors or, more seldom, as patrons, supporting the art purchases of the museums. Or they devote themselves
very personally to the art of their choice and place these works at the museums’ disposal temporarily or, in fortunate cases,
permanently. Both of the museums involved in this project, the Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal and the Neues Museum
Weserburg Bremen, emerged from the personal commitment of collectors. And in the form of private-public partnerships,
both of these institutions provide collectors with the means of assembling and presenting such important exhibitions
as, for example, that of Abraham David Christian. For a year now, the Von der Heydt-Museum has possessed a
sculpture by the artist in the form of a loan, while the Neues Museum Weserburg harbors important sculptures and drawings by
Christian in its own modest collection as well as in the Hans Grothe and Sylvia and Ulrich Ströher Collections. It therefore
seemed to us that the time had come to bring these works together once again in the compactness of an exhibition designed
by the artist. We would like to provide the space in which the objects can develop their Language of Man, as Christian
entitled the exhibition after a work group of 1981. We hope that, even in our loud times, this quiet but intense formal language
will be understood.
Without the collectors, none of this would have been possible. Therefore we would like to express our thanks first and
foremost to them for parting with their works for the duration of the two exhibitions, or for placing their works at the museums’
disposal for long-term presentation. Thanks are also due to the gallery owners – Friedrich in Basel, Michael Haas in
Berlin/Zürich, Beck & Eggeling in Düsseldorf, and Shigeru Yokota in Tokyo –, who are highly committed to Christian’s work
and have backed this exhibition and the accompanying catalog in various ways. Neither the exhibition nor the catalog could
have been realized in these dimensions without the patronage of Sylvia and Ulrich Ströher and the Brennscheidt-Stiftung.
Even if, in the words of Hölderlin, “what remains is supplied by artists,” its documentation will be provided by the catalog,
which is being produced in book form and will continue to convey the contents of this exhibition project long after the
show itself is over.
Our express appreciation is due furthermore to the authors, who approached Christian’s work from different points of
view and contributed their analyses and interpretations. They did not always make the going smooth for the two translators,
whose difficult work is hereby gratefully acknowledged. For their devotion and patience, we thank all the persons who
lent their “behind-the-scenes” assistance to the presentation of this exhibition. The value of their contributions can be
judged only by those who themselves have had the opportunity of working with an artist as dedicated to perfection as
Abraham David Christian. This catalog is the third publication to have been produced by the Kehrer publishing house wholly
in accordance with the artist’s intentions. We thank Klaus Kehrer for his dedicated editorial work.


Thomas Deecke and Peter Friese Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen Sabine Fehlemann Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal




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