Felix Nussbaum (1904-44) was a German painter of Jewish descent, murdered in Auschwitz by the Nazis. After more than four decades in oblivion, his native city Osnabruck in northern Germany brought this distinguished artist to light again by opening a museum dedicated to his oeuvre, the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus. The artist's work, life, and fate resonates in this expressive structure that was designed by celebrated American architect Daniel Libeskind.
German artist Brigitte Waldach, born 1966, has produced an impressive body work, mainly of large-format drawing and voluminous installations. Existenz (existence) she conceived especially for Felix-Nussbaum-Haus, where it has been on display since December 2018. It consists of three-dimensional drawings, excerpts from Nussbaum's letters, and a sound collage, involving the viewer in a dialogue with his paintings.
This book documents the environment Waldach has created within Libeskind's architecture to reflect upon and experience Felix Nussbaum's art from our contemporary perspective.
Text in English and German.
Mechthild Achelwilm has been curator of contemporary art at Museumsquartier Osnabruck since 2018. Fritz Backhaus was appointed director of collections at Deutsches Historiches Museum (German museum of history) in Berlin in 2017. Monika Grutters is a member of the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, currently serving as Minister of State for Culture and Media Affairs at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin. Nils-Arne Kassens is director of Museumsquartier Osnabruck. Daniel Libeskind is an American architect of Polish-Jewish descent. His much-debated designs include Berlin's Jewish Museum and the masterplan for the reconstruction of World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York City, as well as many public buildings in Europe, the US, and Canada. Stefan Luddemann is a cultural journalist and writer, working as an editor in charge of Culture and Knowledge with NOZ Media / Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung in Osnabruck. Brigitte Waldach lives and works as an artist in Berlin. She is a graduate of Berlin's University of the Arts, where she has been a master student of painter Georg Baselitz. Her work is represented in the collection of various important museums in Germany and abroad, such as the Albertina in Vienna, Museum Kunstpalast in Dusseldorf, ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus, Stavanger Art Museum, Kupferstichkabinett and Berlinische Galerie in Berlin.
