Thomas Struth
Encyclopedia
Thomas Struth is a German
photographer whose wide-ranging work includes depictions of detailed cityscapes, Asian jungles and family portraits. He is one of Germany's most widely exhibited and collected fine art photographers. Struth currently lives and works in Berlin.
, Germany
, Struth trained at the Düsseldorf Academy
from 1973 until 1980 where he initially studied painting under Peter Kleemann and, from 1974, Gerhard Richter
. Increasingly drawn to photography and with Richter's support, Struth, along with Candida Höfer
, Axel Hütte, and Roswitha Ronkholz, joined the first year of the new photography class run by Bernd and Hilla Becher
, in 1976. That same year, as part of a student exhibition at the Academy, Struth first showed a grid composed of 49 photographs taken on Düsseldorf’s deserted streets, each of them obeying a strict logic of central symmetry. In 1977 Struth and Hütte travelled to England for two months; in 1979 Struth travelled to Paris to visit Thomas Schütte
, a fellow student at the Kunstakademie, and continued his photographs of cityscapes. He went on to produce similar series in Rome (1984), Edinburgh (1985), Tokyo (1986), and elsewhere. These early works largely consisted of black-and-white shots of streets. Skyscrapers were another feature of his work, with many of his photographs attempting to show the relationship people have with their modern-day environment. In 1978 Struth was the first artist in residence at P.S. 1 Studios, Long Island City.
In the mid-1980s Struth added a new dimension to his work when he started to produce family portraits. This was after a meeting with psychoanalyst Ingo Hartmann. As a result, these works attempt to show the underlying social dynamics within a seemingly still photograph. In 1989 Struth began work on his best-known cycle, Museum Photographs, devoted to the visitors to some of the world's great museums and buildings, including The Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Accademia
in Venice, and the Pantheon
in Rome. Expanding the practice after living in Naples and Rome at the end of the 1980s, he also photographed visitors of churches. His pictures of the Pergamon Museum
in Berlin, taken between 1996 and 2001, comprise the first series of Museum Photographs dedicated entirely to a single museum with architectural and sculptural works from classical antiquity, including the famous Pergamon altar and the market gate of Milet. After several unsuccessful attempts to make works with visitors, he decided to stage a series of photos in 2001. Struth's "Museo del Prado" series from 2005, composed of five photographs taken over the course of one week, all shot from slightly different angles, of visitors flocking around Velázquez's Las Meninas
.
Basing himself in Düsseldorf
, Struth's profile continued to expand in the 1990s. Between 1998 and 2006, Struth began scouring the earth for jungle settings in Japan, Australia, China, America and Europe; his first eight large-format Pictures from Paradise were created in 1998 in the Daintree tropical rain forest in Australia. Between 1995 and 2003 Struth produced a series of photographs featuring groups of people gathered at emblematic locations, whether as tourists or as pilgrims. Again created throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas, colour photographs of 2010 that are up to 4 metres long record the structural intricacy of remote techno-industrial and scientific research spaces, such as physics institutes, pharmaceutical plants, space stations, dockyards, nuclear facilities and other edifices of technological production.
Meanwhile, Struth continues to add to his collection of family portraits. In 2003, Gerhard Richter asked Struth to make a family portrait for an article on Richter's work in the New York Times Magazine. In 2011, he was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to make a double portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh
.
From 1993 to 1996, he was the first Professor of Photography at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe
, Germany.
(1990) and Documenta
IX (1992) at Kassel. His first solo show outside of Germany took place at Fruitmarket Gallery
, Edinburgh in 1987. In 1988 Struth exhibited in the group show "Another Objectivity", organized by the Institute of Contemporary Arts
, London, which sought to define a current of research born in Germany in the wake of the Bechers’ work. Struth later had his first solo exhibition in the U.S. at The Renaissance Society
in Chicago
in 1990. Following the anthological exhibitions held in 2002 at the Dallas Museum of Art and the MOCA in Los Angeles, in 2003 his work was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, with the screening of the video One Hour Video Portraits of portraits on which Struth had been working since 1996. The centre of the exhibition was the Museum series, which featured seemingly ordinary shots of people entering churches, museums and other public places. In 2007, he became the first contemporary artist ever to be exhibited at the Museo del Prado
, Madrid, among the permanent collection of old masters.
In 2010, a European retrospective of his work, "Thomas Struth: Photographs 1978 – 2010" was held at Kunsthaus Zurich, later traveling to Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20
, Düsseldorf; Whitechapel Gallery
, London; and Museu Serralves
, Porto.
Struth has been exhibiting at Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, since 1987; at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, since 1989; and at Monica De Cardenas, Milan, since 1993.
at Christie's
New York for more than $1,000,000.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
photographer whose wide-ranging work includes depictions of detailed cityscapes, Asian jungles and family portraits. He is one of Germany's most widely exhibited and collected fine art photographers. Struth currently lives and works in Berlin.
Career
Born in GeldernGeldern
Geldern ) is a city in the northwest of the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the district of Cleves, which is part of the Düsseldorfadministrative region.-Location:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Struth trained at the Düsseldorf Academy
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, formerly Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, is the Arts Academy of the city of Düsseldorf. It is well known for having produced many famous artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky...
from 1973 until 1980 where he initially studied painting under Peter Kleemann and, from 1974, Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist. Richter has simultaneously produced abstract and photorealistic painted works, as well as photographs and glass pieces, thus undermining the concept of the artist’s obligation to maintain a single cohesive style.- Biography :Gerhard Richter was born in...
. Increasingly drawn to photography and with Richter's support, Struth, along with Candida Höfer
Candida Höfer
Candida Höfer is a Cologne, Germany-based photographer and a former student of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Like other Becher students – Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth – Höfer's work is known for technical perfection and a strictly Conceptual approach...
, Axel Hütte, and Roswitha Ronkholz, joined the first year of the new photography class run by Bernd and Hilla Becher
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Bernard "Bernd" Becher , and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser , were German artists working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their extensive series of photographic images, or typologies, of industrial buildings and structures.- Biography :Bernd Becher was born in Siegen...
, in 1976. That same year, as part of a student exhibition at the Academy, Struth first showed a grid composed of 49 photographs taken on Düsseldorf’s deserted streets, each of them obeying a strict logic of central symmetry. In 1977 Struth and Hütte travelled to England for two months; in 1979 Struth travelled to Paris to visit Thomas Schütte
Thomas Schütte
Thomas Schütte is a German contemporary artist. From 1973 to 1981 he studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alongside Katharina Fritsch under Gerhard Richter and Fritz Schwegler. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.-Work:In the early 1980s Schütte began a series of small sculptural works...
, a fellow student at the Kunstakademie, and continued his photographs of cityscapes. He went on to produce similar series in Rome (1984), Edinburgh (1985), Tokyo (1986), and elsewhere. These early works largely consisted of black-and-white shots of streets. Skyscrapers were another feature of his work, with many of his photographs attempting to show the relationship people have with their modern-day environment. In 1978 Struth was the first artist in residence at P.S. 1 Studios, Long Island City.
In the mid-1980s Struth added a new dimension to his work when he started to produce family portraits. This was after a meeting with psychoanalyst Ingo Hartmann. As a result, these works attempt to show the underlying social dynamics within a seemingly still photograph. In 1989 Struth began work on his best-known cycle, Museum Photographs, devoted to the visitors to some of the world's great museums and buildings, including The Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Accademia
Accademia
The Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th century art in Venice, northern Italy. Situated on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro, it gives its name to one of the three bridges across the canal, the Ponte dell'Accademia, and to the boat landing station for the...
in Venice, and the Pantheon
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
in Rome. Expanding the practice after living in Naples and Rome at the end of the 1980s, he also photographed visitors of churches. His pictures of the Pergamon Museum
Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The site was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate...
in Berlin, taken between 1996 and 2001, comprise the first series of Museum Photographs dedicated entirely to a single museum with architectural and sculptural works from classical antiquity, including the famous Pergamon altar and the market gate of Milet. After several unsuccessful attempts to make works with visitors, he decided to stage a series of photos in 2001. Struth's "Museo del Prado" series from 2005, composed of five photographs taken over the course of one week, all shot from slightly different angles, of visitors flocking around Velázquez's Las Meninas
Las Meninas
Las Meninas is a 1656 painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The work's complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality and illusion, and creates an uncertain relationship between the viewer and the figures...
.
Basing himself in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Struth's profile continued to expand in the 1990s. Between 1998 and 2006, Struth began scouring the earth for jungle settings in Japan, Australia, China, America and Europe; his first eight large-format Pictures from Paradise were created in 1998 in the Daintree tropical rain forest in Australia. Between 1995 and 2003 Struth produced a series of photographs featuring groups of people gathered at emblematic locations, whether as tourists or as pilgrims. Again created throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas, colour photographs of 2010 that are up to 4 metres long record the structural intricacy of remote techno-industrial and scientific research spaces, such as physics institutes, pharmaceutical plants, space stations, dockyards, nuclear facilities and other edifices of technological production.
Meanwhile, Struth continues to add to his collection of family portraits. In 2003, Gerhard Richter asked Struth to make a family portrait for an article on Richter's work in the New York Times Magazine. In 2011, he was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to make a double portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
.
From 1993 to 1996, he was the first Professor of Photography at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Germany.
Exhibitions
Struth's work has been widely shown in solo and group exhibitions, among them the 44th Venice BiennaleVenice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
(1990) and Documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
IX (1992) at Kassel. His first solo show outside of Germany took place at Fruitmarket Gallery
Fruitmarket Gallery
The Fruitmarket Gallery is an art gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the centre of the city on Market Street, beside Edinburgh Waverley train station....
, Edinburgh in 1987. In 1988 Struth exhibited in the group show "Another Objectivity", organized by the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
, London, which sought to define a current of research born in Germany in the wake of the Bechers’ work. Struth later had his first solo exhibition in the U.S. at The Renaissance Society
The Renaissance Society
The Renaissance Society is a non-collecting contemporary art museum in Chicago, Illinois. It is located on the campus of the University of Chicago, although it is a fully separate entity.-Overview:...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1990. Following the anthological exhibitions held in 2002 at the Dallas Museum of Art and the MOCA in Los Angeles, in 2003 his work was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, with the screening of the video One Hour Video Portraits of portraits on which Struth had been working since 1996. The centre of the exhibition was the Museum series, which featured seemingly ordinary shots of people entering churches, museums and other public places. In 2007, he became the first contemporary artist ever to be exhibited at the Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of...
, Madrid, among the permanent collection of old masters.
In 2010, a European retrospective of his work, "Thomas Struth: Photographs 1978 – 2010" was held at Kunsthaus Zurich, later traveling to Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen
The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is the art collection of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, located in Düsseldorf. United by this institution are three different exhibition venues: the K20 at Grabbeplatz, the K21 in the Ständehaus and the Schmela Haus...
, Düsseldorf; Whitechapel Gallery
Whitechapel Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, it was founded in 1901 as one of the first publicly-funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London, and it has a long...
, London; and Museu Serralves
Serralves Foundation
Serralves Foundation is an art foundation whose mission is to raise the general public's awareness concerning contemporary art and the environment. The foundation is located in Porto, Portugal.-Casa de Serralves:...
, Porto.
Struth has been exhibiting at Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, since 1987; at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, since 1989; and at Monica De Cardenas, Milan, since 1993.
Principal exhibitions
- 1987 Kunsthalle BernKunsthalle BernThe Kunsthalle Bern is a Kunsthalle on the Helvetiaplatz in Berne, Switzerland.It was built in 1917–1918 by the Kunsthalle Bern Association and opened on October 5, 1918. Since then, it has been the site of numerous expositions of contemporary art...
- 1987 Westfälisches Landesmuseum MünsterWestphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural HistoryThe Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History is an arts and cultural museum in Münster, Germany-External links:*...
, Participation á Skulptur.ProjektenSkulptur Projekte MünsterSkulptur Projekte Münster is an exhibition of sculptures in public places in the town of Münster... - 1991 Carnegie Museum of ArtCarnegie Museum of ArtThe Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...
, Pittsburgh, USA - 1992 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-WestfalenKunstsammlung Nordrhein-WestfalenThe Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is the art collection of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, located in Düsseldorf. United by this institution are three different exhibition venues: the K20 at Grabbeplatz, the K21 in the Ständehaus and the Schmela Haus...
, Düsseldorf / Participation à DocumentaDocumentadocumenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
IX, Kassel - 1992 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
at The Smithsonian Institution Washington DC, USA - 1993 Kunsthalle HamburgKunsthalle HamburgThe Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art...
- 1994 Institute of Contemporary ArtsInstitute of Contemporary ArtsThe Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
, Boston, USA - 1995 Kunstmuseum Bonn
- 1997 Sprengel Museum, Hannovre
- 1998 Stedelijk MuseumStedelijk MuseumFounded in 1874, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is a museum for classic modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It has been housed on the Paulus Potterstraat, next to Museum Square Museumplein and to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam Zuid...
, Amsterdam - 2000 Spazio Oberdan, Milan
- 2000 National Museum of Art, Tokyo & Kyoto
- 2001 Haifa Museum of Art, Israel
- 2001 Kunstsammlung, Bâle
- 2002 Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York - 2002 Museum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesThe Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
; - 2003 Museum of Contemporary Art, ChicagoMuseum of Contemporary Art, ChicagoThe Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
- 2004 Hamburger BahnhofHamburger BahnhofHamburger Bahnhof is a former railway station in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstraße in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as the Museum für Gegenwart , a contemporary art museum....
(Museum für Gegenwart), Berlin - 2005 Museo de Arte, Lima
- 2007 Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
- 2008 Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Köln
- 2008 Museo D'Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina - MADRE, Neapel
- 2008 Museum De Pont, Tilburg (Holland)
- 2010 Fotografien 1978 - 2010, Kunsthaus ZürichKunsthaus ZürichThe Kunsthaus Zürich houses one of the most important art museums in Switzerland and Europe, collected by the local Kunstverein, called Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, and holdings running from the Middle Ages to contemporary art, with an emphasis on Swiss art.Kunsthaus is also the name of the tram stop...
- 2010 New Works, Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
- 2011 Fotografien 1978 – 2010, K20 - K20 - Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
- 2011 Whitechapel Gallery, London
- 2011 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,Williamstown, Massachusetts
Recognition
In 1997 he was awarded the Spectrum International Photography Prize of Lower Saxony. In 2007, his work "Pantheon, Rome" (1994) was sold to David ZwirnerDavid Zwirner
David Zwirner is a gallerist and art dealer and owner of the David Zwirner Gallery in New York City. In 2010 Zwirner was listed at number four in the ArtReview annual "Power 100" list.-Early Life:...
at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
New York for more than $1,000,000.
Selected bibliography
- Unbewusste Orte / Unconscious Places, Berne 1987
- Museum Photographs, Munich 1993
- Strangers and Friends, 1994
- Stefen Gronert und Christoph Schreier: Thomas Struth. Straßen. Fotografie 1976 bis 1995, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Cologne, 1995.
- Portraits, Munich 1997
- Still, Munich 1998
- Struth, Munich 2000
- Thomas Struth – My Portrait, 2000
- Löwenzahnzimmer, Munich 2001
- New Pictures from Paradise, Munich 2002
- Photographien 1977-2002, Munich 2002
- Pergamon Museum, Munich 2004
- Museum Photographs, Munich 2005
- Les Museum Photographs de Thomas Struth. Une mise en abyme, Paris/Munich 2005