Berlin art tours delve into the human psyche

Art | 23.06.2010

Unique Berlin art tours delve into the human psyche

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: What does a picture tell you about yourself?

Students in Berlin are offering unique tours of the Gemaelde Galerie that explore the depths of the human psyche. Art evokes universal emotions, they've discovered. Now they want to take the project to the workplace.

When it comes to opening a dialogue with the human psyche, a picture is worth a thousand words - at least according to business psychology student Kathalin Laser. She is among the volunteers who give Thursday evening art tours in Berlin's prestigious Gemaelde Galerie.

"It has always been a challenge to get people to take part because the word 'psychological' scares people," said Laser. "People are scared to get to know too much about themselves. Maybe it is typical German, but most people say, 'I'm perfect and don't have to work on myself.'"

However, under the guidance of the students, participants in the unique art tours do indeed discover quite a lot about themselves. Instead of hearing an art critic's technical analysis of a painting, they're asked what they see and feel when looking at a particular picture.

Different takes on the same thing

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Vermeer's "The Woman with the Pearl Necklace"

One of the paintings frequently highlighted by the student guides is "The Woman with the Pearl Necklace" by Johannes Vermeer. Painted in the 1660's, it depicts a young woman staring into the distance, with a glazed, dreamy look in her eyes. Light from the window illuminates her face, while the lower part of the painting remains in dark shadow.

"People tell us stories, like she might be pregnant, or she is in love and she is waiting for her lover," said Laser. "She is looking out of the window and yearning for something more. These are all the different stories people tell us, but it is the same topic, and the topic is the in-between."

Indeed, longing and uncertainty are emotions anyone can relate to.

"I felt like there is this dark side in this painting," said a 22-year-old on the tour. "There is this huge black spot and one question of mine was: What is under the table? Why is it so dark? But then I thought, I don't want to go there, so I concentrated on something else."

The tour experience helped her realize how she ignores or represses uncomfortable feelings, rather than confronting them.

Another participant, 27, said he gained a different insight into himself while contemplating the same Vermeer work.

"You can see in this picture that something doesn't fit, and you can see in your own life that something doesn't really fit," he said. "And you see this girl in the painting, and she looks somehow nice but somehow also scary, like old and very young." The painting captures a sense of transition, he concluded.

Getting to the heart of humanity

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Art expresses universal feelings, conclude the tour guides

Gudrun Schoppe, one of the students giving the tours, was always interested in classical art but was only convinced of its effectiveness as a tool for delving into the modern soul after trying it out herself.

"You are sitting in front of this very old piece of art, and then in the next moment you connect with yourself, and your world, and your everyday life," said Schoppe. "You connect this very old piece of art with your problems. That is the point that fascinated me from the beginning."

The tour guides work with 10 different paintings. Each one evokes a specific fundamental human issue, like fear, loss, personal borders, belonging, or love. Certain paintings, they say, always invoke the same emotional responses among participants, although each person expresses it in a unique way.

"Maybe the same problems are always coming up because these are the main problems in our world that have existed since humanity exists," conjectured tour guide Pola Zuegge. "That's why it works with old paintings, because if you do art you try to express your unconscious and you are painting universal problems."

Art talk for the office

While they're still studying, Zuegge, Laser and Schoppe will continue to offer their psychology art tours in a museum. In the future, however, they plan to use the same technique within the corporate setting.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Can psychological art discussion improve work conditions?

But will company members be able to openly express their feelings when their boss, secretary, or coworkers are in the same room? Laser says they will. She is convinced that even managers and executives who immerse themselves in a piece of art will be able to let go of their professional roles and identities, see their colleagues in new ways, and find fresh ways of relating to each other.

"In a company there are different characters and different people deal with situations differently," said Laser. "And then you get them all together, sitting in front of one painting, and they all talk about how they deal with it….They are relating."

In many sectors, relating to other people is essential to business. But the guides have yet to find out whether the woman with the pearl necklace is able to close a few deals - or at least improve the office climate.

Author: Leah McDonnell

Editor: Kate Bowen

Art | 16.09.2010

Commerzbank turns its art collection over to museums

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Andy Warhol's "Goethe" is on loan at the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt

Commerzbank is giving away its art collection to five German museums in the form of free, long-term loans. It says art belongs in museums - but the bank hasn't gone away empty handed.

Giving away a hundred valuable works of art on long-term loan may sound like something Charles Dicken's Scrooge would do after having met the Ghost of Christmas Future. However, Commerzbank's art strategy is at least as much of a win-win situation as it is a conspicuous act of generosity.

When Commerzbank absorbed Dresdner Bank in 2009, it inherited the smaller bank's formidable art collection. Instead of adding to the collection as a further investment, the hundred most valuable of its 2,000 works are being given to five museums in Germany as long-term loans - free of charge.

"We want to give something back to society," said Commerbank's CEO Martin Blessing, "That's why we've put art, culture and the young generation on our agenda. But we don't have to build up our own art collection to get involved; we believe that artworks are better off in museums."

Good time for heroics

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: "Evasion IV" by Franz Ackermann is on loan at Dresden's Municipal Gallery

At a time when museums are scraping together funds to finance acquisitions, the offer is opportune for the five selected museums: the National Gallery in Berlin, the Museum for Modern Art in Frankfurt, the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt and Dresden's Municipal Gallery and State Art Collection. Berlin, Frankfurt and Dresden are cities to which Commerzbank has strong ties.

Curator Astrid Kiessling-Taskin, who helped build up Dresdner Bank's art collection, said it was difficult at first to digest the reality that Commerzbank was taking an entirely new approach to art. Ultimately, however, she agrees with Blessing that museums are a better place than bank offices for the art.

"Honestly, I'm somewhat relieved that these high-class works are now in good hands," she said. "We don't have the resources or the means to preserve and take care of the works so that they can be enjoyed in the coming generations."

The new course shifts the focus from the banks' prestige back to the art itself, added the curator.

Record auction price

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: This untitled work by Dan Flavin was loaned to Frankfurt's Museum for Modern Art

The Commerzbank's policy began earlier this year with the auction of the most significant piece in collection: "L'homme qui marche" by Alberto Giacometti. Unlike the other major works, it was not loaned to a museum, but purchased privately for 74 million euros (about $96 million), the highest price ever paid at an art auction.

Of that sum, one million euros in cash has been designated for each of the five chosen museums, while the rest went to Commerzbank's foundations. The extra funds are not to be used for acquisitions but for behind-the-scenes restoration and conservation work, which is less glamorous and therefore hard to find sponsors for.

"I'm very glad; now the National Gallery is a millionaire," said its director, Udo Kittelman.

Others not following suit

In shedding its art collection, Commerzbank does not seem to have started a new trend. Deutsche Bank, which owns 56,000 works on paper, has plans to continue expanding its collection, as does Allianz in Munich.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Giacometti's "L'homme qui marche" is the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned

"We're not considering getting rid of anything in our collection, except for maybe obsolete items like watercolors from the 1950's," an Allianz representative told Deutsche Welle.

Commerzbank seems to have discovered a niche with its new art strategy. It no longer has to finance the storage and restoration of the artworks - and the move is good for PR. After all, the works in the museums will be clearly identified as loans from Commerzbank.

Author: Werner Bloch (kjb)

Editor: Greg Wiser