ZEN 49

With Collection+, the Sammlung Moderne Kunst (Modern Art Collection) in the Pinakothek der Moderne has been presenting works from its holdings since 2019. New acquisitions, discoveries and thematic focuses show the diversity of the holdings in collaboration with partners and foundations.

In July 1949, the Gruppe der Gegenstandslosen (The Group of Non-Representational Artists), later ZEN 49, was founded in Munich. After the period under Nazi rule, during which abstract art had been vilified as ‘degenerate’ in defamatory exhibitions, the group wanted to generate a new conspicuousness together and contribute towards a moral renewal. In the years to follow, ZEN 49 evolved into an integrative and clearly internationally orientated association of artists and strengthened the acceptance of non-representational art forms in the Federal Republic.

With works by Willi Baumeister, Rupprecht Geiger, Brigitte Matschinsky-Dennighoff, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Woty Werner, Fritz Winter and others.

Curator: Anna Rühl

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With the motto "Walk the Line", the Modern Art Collection presents six exhibitions in six rooms, which show different artistic paths into abstraction. Line, gesture and the question of material serve as creative starting points. Just how multifaceted these paths can be is revealed through selected positions from different areas of the collection and collaborations, which include painting and photography, drawing and sculpture: Balancing acts that move formally between representationalism and abstraction and at the same time explore the critical potential of unconventional lines.