Kunstkammer Georg Laue
Georg Laue founded the Kunstkammer Georg Laue in 1997 in the immediate vicinity of the three Pinakotheken in Munich. There he exhibits artworks of museum standards from the 16th to the 18th centuries in splendid historical rooms. These artworks were once wondrous objects part of the Kunst– and Wunderkammer of the Renaissance and Baroque period. Such pieces include non-European works (exotica), natural objects (naturalia), scientific instruments (scientifica), natural marvels (mirabilia), and skilfully crafted artworks (artificialia). Here artworks made of a wide variety of materials are displayed in a lively manner. Thus objects made of amber, ivory, coral, silver, shell, stone, bronze, and coconut create the atmosphere of the princely Kunstkammer, which is in itself a small-scale representation of the cosmos. At the same time, the Kunstkammer illustrates the position of mankind in the universe on the basis of his ability to produce “artistic” creations. Georg Laue is convinced that Kunst– and Wunderkammer offer a type of aesthetic school for modern society. It is for this reason that he decided to specialise in Kunstkammer objects in addition to the construction and presentation of Kunstkammer collections. In so doing, he not only supports collectors, but also public institutions such as museums and foundations with the preparation and the realisation of Kunstkammer exhibitions.
Georg Laue’s interest in Renaissance and Baroque objects was already awakened during his youth with the influence of his father’s art dealership, which was founded in the 1960s. During his studies of art history, ethnology, and ecclesiastical history, he deepened his passion for Kunst– and Wunderkammer. As an art historian, he has released a series of elaborately designed catalogues since 1999 through his own in-house publishing company. The catalogues themselves are a product of the cooperation of different specialists and are considered reference works in academic circles. This publication series, which comprises eleven volumes to date, is devoted to different themes surrounding the topic of the Kunstkammer: scientifica and exotica, vanitas objects, Kunstkammer furniture, precious cutlery, amber and ivory artworks as well as filigree glass from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Georg Laue has displayed exquisite artworks from the Renaissance and the Baroque period in parallel with contemporary works in several special exhibitions. For example, he staged an exhibition in cooperation with Colnaghi in London in the fall of 2013 called "Art of the Curious," which highlighted the interaction between art and nature by means of specially chosen Kunstkammer objects, Old Master paintings, drawings, as well as contemporary pieces. In the exhibition "The Oceans. Dreams and Realities" organised by the ERES-Foundation in Munich in 2011, Georg Laue curated artworks from Agnès Varda and works by other contemporary artists in conjunction with an ocean-themed Wunderkammer full of precious items from the 16th to 19th centuries. Moreover, he installed a Wunderkammer for the Olbricht collection in 2007 in the Museum Folkwang in Essen, a display in the Weserburg Museum for Modern Art in Bremen in 2008/2009, another Kunstkammer in the Kunsthalle Krems in 2010 as well as a display in La Maison Rouge in Paris in 2011. Georg Laue has also curated the permanent exhibition “Wunderkammer Olbricht” in the me Collectors Room in Berlin since May 2010. Also noteworthy is the exhibition "Polke - Bernstein Amber," which he organised in 2006 in cooperation with the Michael Werner Gallery in New York. At this exhibition, he displayed a collection of Renaissance and amber objects in combination with works by Sigmar Polke. Furthermore, the yearly collective stand at Frieze Masters London with the Peter Freeman Inc. gallery based in New York, which specialises in contemporary art, continues to attract visitors with its beautiful and inspiring combination of Renaissance, Baroque, and contemporary artworks. This collaboration between Georg Laue and Peter Freeman began in New York in 2004 with a unique and exciting exhibition - called "A Collector´s Cabinet of Curiosities".
The Kunstkammer Georg Laue is a regular exhibitor at TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) in Maastricht, at Frieze Masters in London, as well as at the HIGHLIGHTS – International Art Fair in Munich. In addition, the Kunstkammer Georg Laue participated in the BIAF (Biennale Internazionale dell´Antiquariato di Firenze) in Florence in 2015 in cooperation with the HIGHLIGHTS fair and since 2016 in the TEFAF in New York Fall.
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