The skin has always been a central motif in art. It covers and envelops the body, defines and protects it, and enables us to feel. As a highly sensitive sensory organ and the visible boundary between the body and the outside world, the skin shapes human appearance. With this exhibition, the Städel Museum focuses on the materiality, representation and execution of the skin as an artistically designed surface.
Your Visit
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Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 10 am – 6 pm
Thur 10 am – 9 pm
Mon closed
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Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 10 am – 6 pm
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- Entry From €19 / €17, €10 Tue from 3 pm
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- Schaumainkai 63, 60596 Frankfurt am Main
About the Exhibition
Taking selected works from the Collection of Prints and Drawings as its starting point, the exhibition brings together some seventy works in various media and from different periods from the collections of the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, including photographs, paintings and sculptures. Spanning from antiquity through the Old Masters and modern art to the present day, the exhibition presents a multi-layered panorama that sheds light on the depiction of skin as a fundamental aspect of artistic practice.
In art, the body’s surface serves as a mirror of experiences and emotions, of youth and old age, and at the same time as a sensitive site of vulnerability and desirability. The exhibition juxtaposes works by Hans Baldung Grien, Pierre Bonnard, Albrecht Dürer, Hendrick Goltzius, Dora Maar, Raphael, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Titian and others, thereby illustrating the diversity of creative approaches.
The depiction of human skin is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and, at the same time, most challenging themes in art. [...] The focus is on questions of artistic practice: By what means, techniques and materials is it possible to make the sensuality, tactile quality and adaptability of the body’s surface tangible?
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François Gérard
Orpheus tries to hold on to Eurydice, ca. 1791 -
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Pierre Bonnard
Reclining Nude against a White and Blue Plaid, ca. 1909 -
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Hendrick Goltzius
Portrait of Gillis van Breen, 1588
The choice of materials and techniques influences the artistic process, the surface, texture and plasticity of the body’s surface, as well as its individual effect on the viewer. The rendering of the face and body reveals the distinctive qualities of the skin, its flexibility and mutability. Wounds appear as intrusions into the closed surface of the body, clothing as a shaping envelope, touch as the basis of interpersonal communication, and the physical imprint of the skin as a unique, individual signature.
Spanning six chapters, the exhibition offers insight into the broad spectrum of artistic explorations of the human skin. It sharpens the viewer’s awareness of the surface in art and allows it to be experienced sensually.
Curator
Dr Astrid Reuter (Head of Prints and Drawings before 1800, Städel Museum)
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
Adam and Eve, 1638
Dora Maar
Mannequin with perm, 1935
Max Beckmann
Dream of War, 1946
Titian
Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1510
Raffael
Caryatid, 1520
Hans Multscher
Holy Trinity, 1450
Tuesday Special
Take advantage of our Tuesday Special and visit the permanent exhibition and all special exhibitions for the single price of €10.
Every Tuesday from 3 to 6 pm.
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