Museum De Reede in Antwerp presents a large-scale retrospective of the graphic work of Neo Rauch
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Neo Rauch - Balance
Graphic work 1988-2026
Museum De Reede, Antwerp
19 June - 19 October
Curator: Ralph Keuning
Museum De Reede in Antwerp presents this summer an exceptional exhibition: Balance, a major retrospective devoted to the graphic work of Neo Rauch. With a rich and varied selection of colorful graphic works and five large-format oil paintings on paper covering the period 1988-2026, this is the first major presentation of his graphic work outside Germany, marking an important moment on the international contemporary art scene.
For this exhibition, almost the entire museum is dedicated to a single temporary monographic exhibition. Only a very limited selection of emblematic pieces from the permanent collection - including The Scream by Edvard Munch and Pornokratès by Félicien Rops - will remain on view for the duration of the exhibition. This exceptional curatorial decision underscores the importance and scale of the presentation.
Neo Rauch and graphic design
Neo Rauch (Leipzig, 1960) is considered a key figure in the revival of figurative painting at the end of the 20th century. At a time when abstraction and conceptual art dominated artistic discourse, he developed a radically autonomous visual language in which figuration regained a central place. His work is characterised by layered, often enigmatic compositions that combine narrative fragments, historical echoes and dreamlike visions.
Although Rauch is best known worldwide for his painting, this exhibition clearly shows that his graphic work constitutes an autonomous and essential area within his oeuvre. Since 1988, in parallel with his painting, he has been developing a vast graphic career in which motifs are concentrated, narrative structures refined and compositions given a particular intensity.
What makes this exhibition even more remarkable is the resolutely colourful nature of his graphic work. While graphic design is often associated with black and white, a world bursting with colour, nuance and layering is revealed. The works show how Rauch uses colour as a means of expression in its own right in his graphic practice, shattering long-held preconceptions about the medium.
The graphic works show how his visual language is articulated in different stages: from the first sheets, where the figures are still in a research phase, almost organic, to the later works where the characteristic constellations have fully crystallised. The combination of line, colour, contrast and surface creates an intensity that makes the artist's thoughts visible in a direct and poignant way.
Balance
The exhibition includes a wide selection of graphic works spanning the period 1988-2026, complemented by five monumental oil paintings on paper. These works form the anchor points of the presentation and highlight the interaction between Rauch's graphic thinking and his pictorial practice.
With Balance, Museum De Reede not only offers a rich panorama, but also highlights an artistic continuum in which graphic design and painting evolve in parallel. The title refers to a precarious field of tension that permeates Rauch's work: an ongoing quest for balance between order and disorder, past and future, action and stillness. This balance is never static, but is constantly reformulated, shaken and rediscovered.
Antwerp
The context of this exhibition is significant. The Museum De Reede has a clear focus on graphic art, and is part of a tradition in which artists such as Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch and Félicien Rops saw graphics as an autonomous medium in its own right. In this tradition, Rauch is presented as a contemporary representative who gives the medium a comparable weight and urgency.
All the works in the exhibition are on loan from the Grafikstiftung Neo Rauch in Aschersleben, the town where the artist grew up. Since 2012, this foundation has been working systematically to document, collect and present his entire graphic oeuvre. The foundation aims to provide as comprehensive an overview as possible of all the editions and is an important reference centre for Rauch's work.
With this exhibition, the Museum De Reede is offering a rare, in-depth look at an essential but lesser-known aspect of the work of an artist who brought figurative art back to life.
About Neo Rauch
Neo Rauch (born 1960 in Leipzig) is one of the most important artists of his generation and is internationally recognised as a key figure in the revival of figurative painting. Trained at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, where he studied with Arno Rink, among others, he has developed a singular visual language, blending influences from surrealism, art history and popular visual culture.
His work is exhibited around the world and is included in major collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich) and the Palazzo Pitti (Florence). Since his international breakthrough at the end of the 1990s, Rauch has not only consolidated his own position, but has also contributed to the worldwide visibility of the Leipziger Schule.
About the Museum De Reede
The Museum De Reede in Antwerp is a unique museum dedicated to graphic art as an artistic medium in its own right. Its collection includes masterpieces by artists such as Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch and Félicien Rops, and deals with themes such as the human condition, existence and social tensions.
By combining historical masters with contemporary artists, the museum is positioning itself as a place where printmaking is approached as a living, contemporary art form. Through its temporary exhibitions, the Museum De Reede is developing an international programme focusing on graphic art in all its forms. The Neo Rauch exhibition fits in perfectly with this mission and underlines the museum's ambition to be relevant both historically and contemporarily.
Selection of images
