FOLLOWING DAMASCUS ...

For the first time, an exhibition is dedicated to the former “Department of Islamic Arts” at Museum Folkwang and its resonance in the modern Folkwang cosmos. Even before acquiring important paintings by Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh, museum founder Karl Ernst Osthaus collected arts and crafts from North Africa and West Asia. This group of works had a decisive influence on the Folkwang concept and influenced the art, design and architecture that developed in the context of the museum. 
Around 300 objects provide the first representative overview of the collection of Islamic Arts at the Folkwang, which was one of the earliest museum collections of its kind in Germany – including shiny ceramics, richly decorated fabrics, a valuable Šāhnāma (Book of Kings) and an internationally significant collection of ibero-islamic tiles, which Walter Gropius himself raved about. Works of classical modernism, European design and contemporary new productions expand the historical spectrum to include current perspectives and issues.