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Neo Rauch's 'para' Exhibition at The Met Showcases Leipzig School Painter's Historical Collisions

exhibition · 2026-04-22

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is showcasing Neo Rauch's exhibition 'para', which will be open until September 23, 2007, located at 1000 Madison Avenue. This collection highlights the German artist's unique fusion of romanticism, realism, and collage. As a prominent member of the Leipzig School, Rauch gained recognition in the mid-1990s for his integration of realistic elements with intricate imagery. Significant pieces include 'The Next Move' (2007) and 'The Fugue'. His early works from the 1990s were influenced by early twentieth-century graphic art, while his more recent creations draw inspiration from Romantic artists and address the political extremes of twentieth-century realism. This exhibition marks the third installment in an annual series at the Met featuring emerging contemporary artists, following Tony Oursler and Kara Walker. Interestingly, Rauch's surname translates to 'new', reflecting his revival of classical techniques.

Key facts

  • Neo Rauch's exhibition 'para' is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until September 23, 2007
  • Rauch is a leading figure of the Leipzig School, which includes Tim Eitel, Martin Kobe, and Matthias Weischer
  • The exhibition is the third in an annual Met series on young contemporaries, following Tony Oursler and Kara Walker
  • Rauch's work fuses romanticism, realism, and a collage sensibility, resisting anachronism vs. rejuvenation
  • His paintings reference Romantic forebears like Georg Friedrich Kersting and troubling National Socialist/DDR realists
  • Rauch emerged in the mid-1990s, trained at Leipzig's Academy of Graphic Arts under East German isolation
  • Works like 'The Next Move' (2007) feature German triple puns and historical costume dramas
  • His cryptic interviews quote writers Gottfried Benn and Ernst Jünger, who accommodated the Third Reich

Entities

Artists

  • Neo Rauch
  • Anton Raphael Mengs
  • Tony Oursler
  • Kara Walker
  • John Currin
  • Tim Eitel
  • Martin Kobe
  • Matthias Weischer
  • Max Ernst
  • James Rosenquist
  • R.B. Kitaj
  • Georg Friedrich Kersting
  • Gottfried Benn
  • Ernst Jünger
  • Steven Campbell

Institutions

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • New York Sun
  • Academy of Graphic Arts
  • Leipzig School

Locations

  • New York
  • United States
  • Leipzig
  • Germany
  • East Germany
  • Mitteleuropa

Sources