Exhibition Classical modernism meets contemporary art at the Kunsthaus Zürich
A silent memorial to vulnerability: "The Fallen Man" (1915) by Wilhelm Lehmbruck in the "O Mensch!" exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich.
Image: Keystone
Video still (2025) by Yves Netzhammer in the exhibition "O Mensch!" at Kunsthaus Zürich.
Image: Keystone
A silent memorial to vulnerability: "The Fallen Man" (1915) by Wilhelm Lehmbruck in the "O Mensch!" exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich.
Image: Keystone
Video still (2025) by Yves Netzhammer in the exhibition "O Mensch!" at Kunsthaus Zürich.
Image: Keystone
The work of German sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck, who died in 1919, meets contemporary Swiss artist Yves Netzhammer at the Kunsthaus Zürich. The exhibition focuses on the vulnerability of human beings.
23.10.2025, 11:31
SDA
At first glance, these two artists could hardly be more different: Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919) created human figures using the classic materials of plaster, cast stone and terracotta - and more rarely in bronze and marble. Yves Netzhammer, born in 1970, has made a name for himself as a computer artist, draughtsman and creator of video and hybrid installations.
It is no coincidence that the Kunsthaus Zürich is bringing the two artists together in a "transhistorical", i.e. time-spanning, dialog. Netzhammer, who is also listed as the designer of the exhibition, has already made several appearances at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg.
Sadness, thoughtfulness and despair
In fact, many of Netzhammer's works appear to be a digital continuation of Lehmbruck's work. This is also evident in terms of content: the sculptor's late work, which was created in Zurich among other places, shows people from their vulnerable side, in mourning, pensiveness and despair. "His figures are like silent memorials and powerful symbols of a new humanism," writes the Kunsthaus.
The inner turmoil of his sculptures are to a certain extent also a reflection of the artist's state of mind in the last years of his life and work. Lehmbruck took his own life in 1919. His art was later declared "degenerate" by the National Socialists.
Today, Lehmbruck's name may be somewhat overshadowed by his contemporaries, such as Rodin or Brančuşi. During his lifetime and beyond, however, he was certainly one of the internationally recognized artistic personalities. Many museum exhibitions as well as his participation in the Armory Show in New York and much-noticed posthumous appearances at Documenta I and III in Kassel in the 1950s and 60s bear witness to this.
The exhibition "O Mensch! Wilhelm Lehmbruck - The Last Years" in dialog with Yves Netzhammer runs from October 24, 2024 to January 18, 2026.
