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New exhibition of the Graphic Collection at the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt
From October 23, 2025 to February 8, 2026, the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt the exhibition "Face2Face," around 120 works from its Graphic Collection – from the Renaissance to the present day. The exhibition focuses on the face as a mirror of personality and as a medium of self-expression, a subject that has fascinated artists for centuries.
The exhibition explores the tension between seeing and being seen . Faces are simultaneously projection surfaces, means of communication, and vehicles of emotional expression – today just as in earlier eras. In an age of selfies, Instagram, and digital staging, the face becomes the stage of the soul.
Faces through the centuries
The selected drawings, prints, posters, and photographs demonstrate how artists have worked with facial expressions, body language, and eye contact over the centuries. Works from the Romantic era often appear as modern as if they were created today – and vice versa.
Diverse perspectives on the face
The exhibition brings 78 artists whose works impressively trace the development of portraiture.
Among the works on display are those by:
Gertrud Arndt, Max Beckmann, Conrad Felixmüller, George Grosz, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Emil Nolde, Arnulf Rainer, Annegret Soltau, Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Rembrandt van Rijn, Albrecht Dürer, Roy Lichtenstein, Ludwig Meidner, Carlo Maratti, Justine Otto, Walter Schels, Vera Röhm and many others.
The exhibition invites visitors to sharpen their own perception and discover how faces have reflected identity, emotion, and the spirit of the times over the centuries.
(DARMSTADT – RED/HLMD)
Featured image: Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe in Blue and Orange against Pink, 1967, silkscreen print, 915 x 912 mm, photo: W. Fuhrmannek, HLMD © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025
