ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Edmund Kesting's First Retrospective Unveils a Colorful Avant-Garde Legacy in Halle

exhibition · 2026-08-07

The Kunstmuseum Moritzburg in Halle an der Saale is hosting the first-ever retrospective of Edmund Kesting, a Dresden-born artist (1892–1970) known primarily as a photographer but whose expansive oeuvre includes painting, construction, and avant-garde experimentation. The exhibition, curated by museum director Thomas Bauer-Friedrich and Paul Kaiser, brings together 227 works, mostly from private collections, revealing Kesting's 'Bildbauwerke' (picture constructions) made from paper, cardboard, and wood, which predate assemblage art. Kesting's vibrant use of color distinguished him from Bauhaus contemporaries, and his photographic experiments of the late 1920s employed double and triple exposures and solarization. The show also highlights his post-war career, including his dismissal from a professorship due to 'formalism' accusations by the SED, his subsequent teaching at Berlin-Weißensee until 1953, and his late gestural paintings that align with Western Art Informel. Kesting died in 1970, largely forgotten, but this exhibition positions him as a significant figure in 20th-century art, with curators calling his work 'an extraordinary testimony to artistic freedom and radical renewal.'

Key facts

  • Edmund Kesting (1892–1970) was born in Dresden and studied at the academy there, interrupted by World War I.
  • The Kunstmuseum Moritzburg in Halle an der Saale presents the first retrospective of Kesting's work, featuring 227 pieces.
  • Curators Thomas Bauer-Friedrich and Paul Kaiser assembled the exhibition primarily from private collections.
  • Kesting created 'Bildbauwerke' (picture constructions) using paper, cardboard, and wood in relief-like compositions.
  • His use of color was experimental, diverging from the Bauhaus primary colors.
  • Kesting's photographic work in the late 1920s included double and triple exposures and solarization.
  • After WWII, he contributed to the 1946 'Allgemeine Deutsche Kunstausstellung' in Dresden.
  • He was dismissed from a professorship due to 'formalism' accusations and later taught at Berlin-Weißensee until 1953.
  • His late paintings, influenced by Art Informel, were not exhibited during his lifetime.
  • Kesting died in 1970, having been largely ignored by art history until now.

Entities

Artists

  • Edmund Kesting
  • El Lissitzky

Institutions

  • Kunstmuseum Moritzburg
  • Bauhaus
  • Novembergruppe
  • SED

Locations

  • Halle an der Saale
  • Germany
  • Dresden
  • Berlin-Weißensee
  • Babelsberg

Sources