Joachim Blüher
Blüher in the garden of Villa Massimo
Born1953
Uelzen
NationalityGerman
Known forDirector of Villa Massimo 2002 – 2019

Joachim Blüher (born in 1953 in Uelzen, Lower Saxony) is a German art historian and cultural manager. Since 2002 he has been the Director of the German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome.

Biography

Early life

After completing school in 1974 Joachim Blüher did his community service in the preservation of archaeological monuments in Mainz. Subsequently, he studied art history and archaeology in Mainz, Vienna, Rome and Bonn. In 1989 he was awarded a doctorate by the Rhineland Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn on the topic of The Former Rotunda of St. Martin’s Minster – Heavenly Jerusalem in Twelfth Century Bonn.[1] During his studies he worked as a restorer in the archaeological sector in Germany and France. In addition he was active as a photographer and curator of exhibitions of international jewellery design at the Birgitta Knauth Gallery in Bonn.

Blüher worked for the Michael Werner Gallery in Cologne and New York from 1989 to 1993.[2] From 1993 on he ran the Joachim Blüher Gallery at Gertrudenstr. 7 in Cologne. There he presented artists such as Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, A.R. Penck, Jörg Immendorff and Per Kirkeby,[2] but also represented younger artists such as Jean-Michel Alberola, Siegfried Anzinger, Saskia Niehaus,[3] Peter Roesch,[4] Dirk Sommer[5] and Barbara Camilla Tucholski.[6][7] In 1994 Blüher displayed a small selection of drawings by Victor Hugo in his gallery. In Intime Protokolle der Phantasie – Der Romancier Victor Hugo als Zeichner (“Intimate Records of Fantasy – The Novelist Victor Hugo as Graphic Artist“), 27 small works from the novelist's little known graphic oeuvre were exhibited which is normally kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.[8]

In 1994 and 1996, the photographer Benjamin Katz had exhibitions in the Blüher Gallery.[9][10] In 1998 and 2001 Blüher showed photographs by Jaroslav Poncar and in 2001 by the photographic journalist, Thomas Rabsch.[11][12]

Director of Villa Massimo

In 2002 Blüher was appointed by the then Cultural Secretary of State, Julian Nida-Rümelin, as Director of the Villa Massimo, the German Academy in Rome, and entrusted with implementing its new conception.[13] Among other things, the aim was to strengthen the standing of the academy as an institution for advancing highly gifted German artists and to network the Villa closely with the Roman cultural scene.[13]

Due to his fluent Italian, Blüher had gained the appointment over 160 other applicants.[2] Already in the early 1980s he had lived in Rome. Now he moved there with his wife, Birgitta Knauth, a Bonn jewellery gallery-owner, and their two children to take on the directorship of the institution on 1 September 2002.[14]

In the same year, a stray tom-cat, Rosso, came into the Blüher family at the Villa Massimo. This tom-cat appears as a literary figure in writings by Sibylle Lewitscharoff, Katja Lange-Müller, Jan Wagner and Hanns-Josef Ortheil.[15]

When Blüher received the stipend-holders of the Villa Massimo for the first time in 2003, his motto was: The End of Sleeping Beauty's Slumber.[16] Blüher organized many events such as summer garden parties, exhibitions, concerts and readings (including Globo d'oro events).[16][17][18]

Villa Massimo Night

In 2007, Blüher initiated Villa Massimo Night, which takes place annually in February. The works of the stipend-holders that were made in Rome are presented in Berlin's Gropius-Bau in the form of readings, exhibitions and concerts.[19]

Praxisstipendium

Blüher also proposed that, by means of Practical Arts Stipends, the Villa Massimo be opened up for persons who are not artists in the narrower sense but whose occupations “are aligned with the arts”. These practical arts stipend-holders have included Sasha Waltz,[20] Jim Rakete and Till Brönner,[21] Martin Helmchen[22] and the organ-builder Philipp Casper Andreas Klais.[23][24] Further instances are stays for the typographer Friedrich Forssman, the opera director Valentina Simeonova, the art printer Till Verclas and the baker Josef Wagner made possible by awarding the stipend. Konstantin Grcic, Barbara Klemm, Stefan Sagmeister and Peter Zizka were also Practical Arts stipend-holders at the Villa Massimo.[25][26][27][28]

To the present day, Blüher is the only Director of the Villa Massimo who will retire from service in the regular way after seventeen years.[15] In 2020 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon[29] for his achievements concerning this institution.[30]

Publications

  • Joachim Blüher: Egokollektiv – kollektiv ego? Geld oder Leben!, in: Egokollektiv. Peter Zizka, edited by Anna Duque y González und Matthias Wagner K, published by Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2018, pp. 322–324, ISBN 978-3-96098-364-4.
  • Joachim Blüher (Ed.): Villa Massimo: Deutsche Akademie Rom 1910–2010. Wienand Verlag, Köln, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86832-047-3.
  • Joachim Blüher (Ed.): Villa Massimo: Deutsche Akademie Rom. Photographien von Martin Claßen, Texte von Friedrich Christian Delius, Ulla Hahn, Brigitte Kronauer, Michael Krüger, Jochen Missfeldt, Martin Mosebach, Cees Nooteboom, Arnold Stadler und Uwe Timm. Eigenverlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-030017-2.
  • Joachim Blüher: Mein Vater schaut aus dem Fenster, Trinker, Orangenesser. In: Georg Baselitz. Published by Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 1997, ISBN 3-87439-438-7.
  • Joachim Blüher: Georg Baselitz: Malelade. Michael Werner, Köln 1990, OCLC 30308934.
  • Joachim Blüher, Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo (Hrsg.): Olevano: Casa Baldi/Villa Serpentara., Published by German Academy in Rome Villa Massimo, 2017, 260 pages, order number 1568382 at the Buchhandlung Walther König
  • Joachim Blüher in: Sara Moretti, (Ed): Rom auf Zeit: Villa-Massimo-Stipendiaten im Gespräch, ISBN 978-3-939431-82-4

References

  1. ↑ Blüher, Joachim Hans Heinz (1989). "Die ehemalige Martinsrotunde: Das Himmlische Jerusalem im Bonn des 12. Jahrhunderts" [The Former Rotunda of St. Martin’s Minster – Heavenly Jerusalem in Twelfth Century Bonn] (in German). Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Kunsthistoriker Blüher neuer Direktor der Villa Massimo" [Historian Blüher is the new director of Villa Massimo]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). May 2, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Saskia Niehaus". www.kunstforum.de (in German). September 25, 1998. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Peter Roesch" (PDF). marlenefrei.com (in German). Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ Kliemann, Thomas (March 7, 1998). "Herrlich geschwätzig: Das Bild zum Stück, Dirk Sommers Plakate fürs Bonner Schauspiel" [Wonderfully talkative: The picture to the piece, Dirk Sommer's posters for the Bonn show]. General-Anzeiger (in German).
  6. ↑ "Barbara Tucholski zeichnet eine schöne Wohnung" [Barbara Tucholski draws a nice apartment]. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). April 19, 2002.
  7. ↑ J.P.K. (June 2, 2001). "Fenster, Stern, Madonna, Engel". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German).
  8. ↑ Thiele (April 6, 1994). "Intime Protokolle der Phantasie – Der Romancier Victor Hugo als Zeichner" [Intimate Protocols of Imagination - The novelist Victor Hugo as a draftsman]. General-Anzeiger (in German). p. 13.
  9. ↑ "Ausstellungen im September" [Exhibitions in September]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. August 27, 1994.
  10. ↑ "Internationale Photoszene Köln. Rheinische Heimspiele". Handelsblatt (in German). September 13, 1996.
  11. ↑ "Tal der Loire" [Speak the Loire]. Die Zeit (in German). February 8, 1998.
  12. ↑ Kister, Jürgen (February 22, 2001). "Wenn die Grenzen verwischen – Plädoyer für das Unscheinbare: Fotografien von Thomas Rabsch" [When the Borders Blur - Plea for the Unimposing: Photographs by Thomas Rabsch]. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German).
  13. 1 2 "Kunsthistoriker Blüher neuer Direktor der "Villa Massimo"" [Art historian Blüher new director of "Villa Massimo"]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). May 2, 2002. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  14. ↑ Kliemann, Thomas (July 12, 2002). "Es ist Zeit für eine biografische Erfrischung" [It's time for a biographical refreshment]. General-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  15. 1 2 Baum, David (August 8, 2018). "Eine Italienische Affäre" [The Italian Affair] (PDF). Stern (in German). Retrieved August 13, 2019 – via villamassimo.de.
  16. 1 2 Reuscher, Constanze (February 21, 2013). ""Ich bin von morgens bis abends deutsch!"" ["I'm German from morning to night!"]. Die Welt (in German). Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  17. ↑ Federl, Fabian (January 5, 2017). "Römische Augenblicke" [Roman moments]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  18. ↑ Rohrbrüche, Ameisen (April 8, 2016). "Guerrillas in der Massimo" [Guerrillas in Massimo]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). p. 11.
  19. ↑ von Becker, Peter (February 21, 2019). "Ein Abschied gar nicht mal so leise" [A farewell not even so quiet]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Sasha Waltz: Performance Künstlerin (Honorary Fellow)" (in German). 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Stipendiaten der Villa Massimo stellen ihre Arbeiten vor" [Scholarship holders of the Villa Massimo present their work]. Die Welt (in German). February 22, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Marie-Elisabeth Hecker und Martin Helmchen". Villa Massimo (in German). 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Philipp Caspar Andreas Klais". Villa Massimo (in German). 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  24. ↑ Blüher, Joachim (May 15, 2008). "Brötchen und Spiele" [Bread rolls and games]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Konstantin Grcic". Villa Massimo (in German). 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Barbara Klemm". Villa Massimo (in German). 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  27. ↑ Caruso, Alessandro (June 20, 2014). "Gli artisti di Villa Massimo" [Artists of Villa Massimo]. insideart.eu (in Italian). Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Villa Massimo im Gropiusbau". Neues Deutschland (in German). February 22, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Der Bundespräsident / Bekanntgabe der Verleihungen / Bekanntgabe vom 1. Juni 2020". www.bundespraesident.de. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  30. ↑ Meixner, Christiane (January 27, 2020). "Römische Blicke". www.tagesspiegel.de (in German). Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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