Maurizio Cattelan's 'Night' Opens at Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Reviewed by Martin Herbert
The Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin is currently hosting Maurizio Cattelan's first significant exhibition in Germany, titled Night, which will run until 7 March. The exhibition's exterior showcases Cattelan's name in pink Gothic lettering, complemented by the 2003 animatronic piece Never situated on the roof. Visitors enter through a wooden replica of the Brandenburg Gate, named Purgatory (2026). Inside, a retrospective highlights works such as the 2007 crucifixion piece Dawn, the small figure Him (2001), and taxidermied equids Novecento (1997) and Pentecost (2002). Additional pieces include Bones (2025), All (2007), Dust (2026), and La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi (2000). Reviewer Martin Herbert comments on the exhibition's layout and questions the alignment of Cattelan's style with its themes, particularly in light of the recent electoral success of the Alternative for Germany party.
Key facts
- Maurizio Cattelan's Night is at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, through 7 March.
- The exhibition is Cattelan's first major show in Germany.
- Never (2003), an animatronic drum-beating boy, sits on the museum roof, referencing Günter Grass's 1959 novel The Tin Drum.
- Entry is through Purgatory (2026), a scaled-down wooden replica of the Brandenburg Gate.
- The show includes Dawn (2007), a crucifixion in a packing crate, and Him (2001), a child-size Hitler figure.
- Other works include Novecento (1997), Pentecost (2002), Bones (2025), All (2007), Dust (2026), and La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi (2000).
- Reviewer Martin Herbert compares the layout unfavorably to Robert Gober's Untitled (1995–97) and says he was ready to leave after 20 minutes.
- The exhibition opened as Germany's Alternative for Germany party won a state election without an absolute majority.
Entities
Artists
- Maurizio Cattelan
- Martin Herbert
- Mies van der Rohe
- Günter Grass
- Giuseppe Sanmartino
- Francesca Woodman
- Joseph Beuys
- Robert Gober
- Barbara Kruger
- Massimiliano Gioni
- Nan Goldin
- Hal Foster
- Justin Sun
- Adolf Hitler
- Winston Churchill
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Lisa Botti
- Klaus Biesenbach
- Massimo De Carlo
- Marian Goodman
- Ali Subotnick
- Paolo Pellion di Persano
- Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
- Ivan Erofeev
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Ferdinand Hodler
- Gerhard Marcks
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
- Giovanni Paolo II
- David von Becker
- Pope John Paul II
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- Neue Nationalgalerie
- ArtReview
- Alternative for Germany
- New Museum
- Guggenheim
- Art Basel Miami Beach
- Perrotin
- Gagosian
- Ripley's Believe It or Not!
- Blenheim Palace
- Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea
- Färgfabriken
- Casa Malaparte
- Berlin Biennial
- Preis der Nationalgalerie
- CULTURED
- Friends of the Nationalgalerie
- Berlin Biennale
- Ketterer
- Koller
- Ahrenshooper Kunstauktionen
- Bildgießerei Barth
- Die Zeit
- Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
- Juliet Art Magazine
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
- Sotheby's
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- Rivista Segno
- segnonline.it
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