Declaring “let me speak the truth in all honesty about our age,” foremost 20th-century German photographer August Sander spent his life documenting his fellow countrymen in straightforward, dignified portraits. His early training as a painter informed his exquisitely composed, minutely detailed gelatin silver photographs. In 1910, Sander embarked upon the epic project that would bring him into conflict with the Nazis, as well as late fame: Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts (People of the Twentieth Century) (1910-50s). Using a large-format camera and long exposuretimes, he amassed hundreds of portraits, forming a typology of German society during the two World Wars, shaped by his philosophy about the distinct groups by which it is structured. Sander was a cipher. He disappeared behind his lens, picturing farmers, merchants, civil servants, intellectuals, gypsies, and the insane so that they could be seen.
Einzelausstellungen
2017 August Sander, Das Gesicht der Landschaft. Rheinland und Siebengebirge, Siebengebirgsmuseum, Königswinter, Germany
2017 August Sander, Czytelnia Sztuki, Willa Caro Muzeum w Gliwicach, Gliwice, Poland
2017 August Sander, Portraying a Nation: Germany 1918 – 1933, Tate Liverpool, ARTIST ROOMS, Liverpool, England
2017 August Sander, Hauser & Wirth, New York NY
2017 August Sander, Menschen des 20.Jahrhunderts, Kunstmuseum Kloster unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany
2016 August Sander, Le Point du Jour, Cherbourg, France
2016 August Sander, Der Westerwald im Spiegel der Zeit, Kreisverwaltung Altenkirchen, Altenkirchen, Germany
2015 August Sander, Photographs, Prints for the Aperture Monograph, Deborah Bell, New York NY
2015 August Sander, Palazzo Ducale, Ritratto del XX secolo’, Genoa, Italy
2015 August Sander, Westerwald. Portraits and Landscapes, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
2015 August Sander, August Sander und die Kölner Progressiven: 1920-1933’, Ernst Barlach Museum, Wedel, Germany
2015 August Sander, Masterpieces and Discoveries, FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
2014 August Sander, People in a River Landscape. August Sander and the photography of the present from the Lothar Schirmer collection, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
2014 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Galerie Feroz, Bonn, Germany
2014 August Sander, Photography Is___, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL
2014 August Sander, August Sander: Meisterwerke und Entdeckungen, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
2013 August Sander, La Fábrica, Hombres del siglo XX, People of the 20th Century’, Madrid, Spain
2013 August Sander, Portrait. Landscape. Architecture, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia
2012 August Sander, People of the 20th Century, 30th São Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2011 August Sander, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, ‘Artists Rooms: August Sander’, Edinburgh, England
2010 August Sander, Tate Modern, ‘Artists Rooms: August Sander’, London, England
2009 August Sander, Köln wie es war, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Cologne, Germany
2009 August Sander, Voir, observer et penser, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris, France
2008 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, The Getty Center, Los Angeles CA
2004 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Das große Portraitwerk und Arbeiten seiner Künstlerfreunde, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
2004 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, A Photographic Portrait of Germany, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY
2002 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco CA
2001 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
1997 August Sander, In Photography There Are No Shadows, National Portrait Gallery, London, England
1994 August Sander, In der Photographie gibt es keine ungeklärten Schatten!, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany
1994 August Sander, In der Photographie gibt es keine ungeklärten Schatten!, Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow, Russia
1994 August Sander, In der Photographie gibt es keine ungeklärten Schatten!, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
1993 August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, Museum für Photographie, Brunswick, Germany
1993 August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, Bibliotheque Mejanes, Aix-en-Provence, France
1993 August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, Kuenstlerhaus Edenkoben, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
1981 August Sander, Fotografisches Werk: Menschen des 20. Jahrunderts, Galerie der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig, Germany
1980 August Sander, Photographs of an Epoch 1904-1959, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA
1978 August Sander, August Sander-Retrospektive, Stadtmuseum, Linz, Austria
1977 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts/People of the 20th Century, Scottish Photography Group, Edinburgh, England
1977 August Sander, Menschen ohne Maske, Fotografien 1906–1952, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich, Switzerland
1976 August Sander, A Retrospective in Honor of the Artist’s 100th Birthday, Sander Gallery, Washington DC
1976 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
1973 August Sander, Menschen ohne Maske, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany
1973 August Sander, Sonnabend Gallery, New York NY
1969 August Sander, August Sander Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art New York, New York NY
1959 August Sander, Gestalten seiner Zeit, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, Cologne, Germany
1927 August Sander, August Sander: Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
1906 August Sander, Große Ausstellung photographischer Atelier August Sander, Landhaus-Pavillon, Linz/Donau, Germany
Gruppenausstellungen
2017 Kunsthalle Wien, ‘How To Live Together’, Vienna, Austria
2017 Hauser & Wirth, ‘Serialities’, New York NY
2017 Pinakothek der Moderne, ‘Künstlerportraits. Fotografien der 1920er und 1930er Jahre der Stiftung Ann und Jürgen Wilde’, Munich, Germany
2017 Hessel Museum of Art, ‘Picture Industry’, Annandale-on-Hudson NY
2016 Sprengel Museum, ‘Werkstatt für Photographie 1976 – 1986’, Hannover, Germany
2016 Neue Galerie, ‘BerufsBilder. Positionen zeitgenössischer Portraitfotografie’, Dachau, Germany
2015 NS Dokumentationszentrum, ‘August Sanders unbeugsamer Sohn’, Cologne, Germany
2015 Museo Correr, ‘New Objectivity: Modern German Art in the Weimar Republic: 1919-1933. Otto Dix, Christian Schad, Georg Grosz, Max Beckmann and August Sander’, Venice, Italy
2014 Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, ‘RealSurreal. Masterpieces of Avant-Garde Photography. Das Neue Sehen. 1920-1950 Siegert Collection’, Wolfsburg, Germany
2013 30th Biennial de São Paulo, ‘The imminence of poetics – Selected works’, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2000 Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, ‘Zeitgenossen: August Sander und die Kunstszene der 20er Jahre im Rheinland’, Cologne, Germany
1980 Ständige Vertretung, ‘August Sander: Fotografien von 1906-1945; Bernd und Hilla Becher: Fotografien von 1961-1980’, Berlin, Germany
1956 Museum of Modern Art, ‘Diogenes with a Camera III: August Sander, Alvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, and Paul Strand’, New York NY
1955 Museum of Modern Art, ‘Family of Man’, New York NY
1951 Photokina, Cologne, Germany
Press DE
Declaring “let me speak the truth in all honesty about our age,” foremost 20th-century German photographer August Sander spent his life documenting his fellow countrymen in straightforward, dignified portraits. His early training as a painter informed his exquisitely composed, minutely detailed gelatin silver photographs. In 1910, Sander embarked upon the epic project that would bring him into conflict with the Nazis, as well as late fame: Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts (People of the Twentieth Century) (1910-50s). Using a large-format camera and long exposuretimes, he amassed hundreds of portraits, forming a typology of German society during the two World Wars, shaped by his philosophy about the distinct groups by which it is structured. Sander was a cipher. He disappeared behind his lens, picturing farmers, merchants, civil servants, intellectuals, gypsies, and the insane so that they could be seen.
Solo exhibitions
2017 August Sander, Das Gesicht der Landschaft. Rheinland und Siebengebirge, Siebengebirgsmuseum, Königswinter, Germany
2017 August Sander, Czytelnia Sztuki, Willa Caro Muzeum w Gliwicach, Gliwice, Poland
2017 August Sander, Portraying a Nation: Germany 1918 – 1933, Tate Liverpool, ARTIST ROOMS, Liverpool, England
2017 August Sander, Hauser & Wirth, New York NY
2017 August Sander, Menschen des 20.Jahrhunderts, Kunstmuseum Kloster unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany
2016 August Sander, Le Point du Jour, Cherbourg, France
2016 August Sander, Der Westerwald im Spiegel der Zeit, Kreisverwaltung Altenkirchen, Altenkirchen, Germany
2015 August Sander, Photographs, Prints for the Aperture Monograph, Deborah Bell, New York NY
2015 August Sander, Palazzo Ducale, Ritratto del XX secolo’, Genoa, Italy
2015 August Sander, Westerwald. Portraits and Landscapes, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
2015 August Sander, August Sander und die Kölner Progressiven: 1920-1933’, Ernst Barlach Museum, Wedel, Germany
2015 August Sander, Masterpieces and Discoveries, FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
2014 August Sander, People in a River Landscape. August Sander and the photography of the present from the Lothar Schirmer collection, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
2014 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Galerie Feroz, Bonn, Germany
2014 August Sander, Photography Is___, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL
2014 August Sander, August Sander: Meisterwerke und Entdeckungen, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
2013 August Sander, La Fábrica, Hombres del siglo XX, People of the 20th Century’, Madrid, Spain
2013 August Sander, Portrait. Landscape. Architecture, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia
2012 August Sander, People of the 20th Century, 30th São Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2011 August Sander, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, ‘Artists Rooms: August Sander’, Edinburgh, England
2010 August Sander, Tate Modern, ‘Artists Rooms: August Sander’, London, England
2009 August Sander, Köln wie es war, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Cologne, Germany
2009 August Sander, Voir, observer et penser, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris, France
2008 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, The Getty Center, Los Angeles CA
2004 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Das große Portraitwerk und Arbeiten seiner Künstlerfreunde, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
2004 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, A Photographic Portrait of Germany, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY
2002 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco CA
2001 August Sander, People of the Twentieth Century, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
1997 August Sander, In Photography There Are No Shadows, National Portrait Gallery, London, England
1994 August Sander, In der Photographie gibt es keine ungeklärten Schatten!, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany
1994 August Sander, In der Photographie gibt es keine ungeklärten Schatten!, Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow, Russia
1994 August Sander, In der Photographie gibt es keine ungeklärten Schatten!, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
1993 August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, Museum für Photographie, Brunswick, Germany
1993 August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, Bibliotheque Mejanes, Aix-en-Provence, France
1993 August Sander, Antlitz der Zeit, Kuenstlerhaus Edenkoben, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
1981 August Sander, Fotografisches Werk: Menschen des 20. Jahrunderts, Galerie der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig, Germany
1980 August Sander, Photographs of an Epoch 1904-1959, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA
1978 August Sander, August Sander-Retrospektive, Stadtmuseum, Linz, Austria
1977 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts/People of the 20th Century, Scottish Photography Group, Edinburgh, England
1977 August Sander, Menschen ohne Maske, Fotografien 1906–1952, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich, Switzerland
1976 August Sander, A Retrospective in Honor of the Artist’s 100th Birthday, Sander Gallery, Washington DC
1976 August Sander, Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
1973 August Sander, Menschen ohne Maske, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany
1973 August Sander, Sonnabend Gallery, New York NY
1969 August Sander, August Sander Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art New York, New York NY
1959 August Sander, Gestalten seiner Zeit, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, Cologne, Germany
1927 August Sander, August Sander: Menschen des 20. Jahrhunderts, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
1906 August Sander, Große Ausstellung photographischer Atelier August Sander, Landhaus-Pavillon, Linz/Donau, Germany
Group exhibitions
2017 Kunsthalle Wien, ‘How To Live Together’, Vienna, Austria
2017 Hauser & Wirth, ‘Serialities’, New York NY
2017 Pinakothek der Moderne, ‘Künstlerportraits. Fotografien der 1920er und 1930er Jahre der Stiftung Ann und Jürgen Wilde’, Munich, Germany
2017 Hessel Museum of Art, ‘Picture Industry’, Annandale-on-Hudson NY
2016 Sprengel Museum, ‘Werkstatt für Photographie 1976 – 1986’, Hannover, Germany
2016 Neue Galerie, ‘BerufsBilder. Positionen zeitgenössischer Portraitfotografie’, Dachau, Germany
2015 NS Dokumentationszentrum, ‘August Sanders unbeugsamer Sohn’, Cologne, Germany
2015 Museo Correr, ‘New Objectivity: Modern German Art in the Weimar Republic: 1919-1933. Otto Dix, Christian Schad, Georg Grosz, Max Beckmann and August Sander’, Venice, Italy
2014 Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, ‘RealSurreal. Masterpieces of Avant-Garde Photography. Das Neue Sehen. 1920-1950 Siegert Collection’, Wolfsburg, Germany
2013 30th Biennial de São Paulo, ‘The imminence of poetics – Selected works’, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2000 Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, ‘Zeitgenossen: August Sander und die Kunstszene der 20er Jahre im Rheinland’, Cologne, Germany
1980 Ständige Vertretung, ‘August Sander: Fotografien von 1906-1945; Bernd und Hilla Becher: Fotografien von 1961-1980’, Berlin, Germany
1956 Museum of Modern Art, ‘Diogenes with a Camera III: August Sander, Alvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, and Paul Strand’, New York NY
1955 Museum of Modern Art, ‘Family of Man’, New York NY
1951 Photokina, Cologne, Germany
Press EN