Inga Svala Thorsdottir

The Hamburger Kunsthalle is proud to present a new series of exhibitions based on the principle of a ‘parcours’ (tour or circuit). Parcours aims to give visitors the chance to view our collection from unusual perspectives. The first exhibition in the series takes a look at the backs of paintings, which can offer a variety of interesting (and sometimes unexpected) insights into the works and their creation.

Particularly spectacular are of course the rare examples of works in which the back is of equal artistic value to the front. In addition to these, the backs of pictures often bear traces of the creative process such as sketches or studies. Turning artworks around reveals the wide variety of materials used as picture supports, ranging from rough canvas through to intricate parquetry, and can also lead to the detection of important historical details relating to the origin and changing ownership of the works – information which is often crucial to their precise attribution.

The selected works are located in the rooms marked on the exhibition plan.

A book by Ute Haug to accompany the exhibition will be published in the ‘Kleine Reihe’ series (48 pages, EUR 8.–).

The exhibition is supported by our media partner Welt/Welt am Sonntag.

Tickets