14 November 2026 – 18 April 2027

Hair – Stories of Power and Passion

Augustinermuseum

Unbekannt, nach Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Medusa, 2. Hälfte 17. Jh., Paris Louvre © GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Adrien Didierjean

Whether long, short or shaven, dyed in bright colours or artistically styled – hair tells individual stories. They speak of beauty and desire, of conformity and rebellion, of both power and disempowerment. Hair is a point of connection and shapes identity.

Comprising eight chapters and spanning the period from antiquity to the present day, the exhibition explores the social, political, religious and deeply personal facets of hair. Why does Medusa have a head full of snakes? What does Louis XIV’s opulent wig reveal about social status? And how does contemporary art reflect current debates on body hair and gender roles? Ranging from marble busts of Roman emperors via a delicate hair earring in a portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, all the way through to a designer shoe made of synthetic hair: around 140 sculptures, paintings, prints, photographs, video works, design items, ethnological objects and historical everyday artefacts from four continents open up different perspectives and illustrate the immense fascination that something seemingly so common place can inspire.
 
Originally conceived by the Kunsthalle der Hypovereinsbank in Munich, the exhibition has been adapted, expanded and further elaborated for Freiburg.

Ins Licht gerückt – Künstlerinnen im 19. Jahrhundert

Augustinermuseum | Dachgeschoss

Foto: Patrick Seeger

Marcel van Eeden. 6 August 1870

Haus der Graphischen Sammlung

27 June – 18 October 2026

Marcel van Eeden, aus der Serie 6. August 1870, 2024, Foto: Lukas Giesler © Marcel van Eeden 

In his series 6 August 1870 comprising seventy parts,  Marcel van Eeden explores the interdependence of nationalism, colonialism and racism. The starting point for his artistic research was the fate of Abdel Kader Ben Lahcen, who hailed from the Maghreb. The colonial soldier died in 1870 during the Franco- Prussian War, yet his story extends all the way to present-day Freiburg. Via art photography and historical quotations, van Eeden illuminates what has been  hidden from view for a long time. His research led him from Alsace to Baden, whence to  Tunisia and Algeria. Students at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, where the Dutch artist Marcel van Eeden is currently rector and professor of painting, comment on his series via their own artworks.
A Museum für Neue Kunst exhibition in collaboration with Universität Freiburg,  Provenance research on colonial scientific collections. 

Marcel van Eeden: Oran, Foto: Lukas Plener
Marcel van Eeden: Schlossgarten Schwetzingen, Foto: Lukas Plener
Marcel van Eeden: Schwetzingen Gartenmoschee, Foto: Lukas Plener

Ins Licht gerückt – Künstlerinnen im 19. Jahrhundert

Die aktuelle Schau unter dem Titel "Ins Licht gerückt: Künstlerinnen im 19. Jahrhundert" zeigt unter anderem Gemälde von Alexandra Berckholtz (1821–1899), Ida Maier (1821–1904), Marie Dürr-Grossmann (1852–1889) und Frieda Roman (1859–1918) – allesamt Frauen, die trotz ihres künstlerischen Talents im Schatten ihrer männlichen Kollegen standen. Viele der ausgestellten Werke werden zum ersten Mal der Öffentlichkeit gezeigt. Ihre Gemälde spiegeln eine Zeit, in der Frauen durch soziale und strukturelle Hindernisse am Fortschritt gehindert wurden. Der Zugang zu Kunstakademien war stark eingeschränkt und nur wenigen Frauen gelang es, ihre Arbeiten in renommierten Ausstellungen zu zeigen. Trotz dieser Hürden schufen sie beeindruckende Werke und fanden kreative Wege, sich zu behaupten. Künstlerinnen sind in Ausstellungen und musealen Sammlungen oft unterrepräsentiert – auch im Augustinermuseum stammen weniger als 15 Prozent der Werke aus dieser Zeit von Frauen.

Foto: Patrick Seeger
Foto: Patrick Seeger
Foto: Patrick Seeger
Foto: Axel Killian

Preview

Max Klinger, Entführung (Ein Handschuh, Blatt 9), 1881, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Kupferstichkabinett

28 November 2026 – 14 March 2027

Max Klinger. Etchings and Drawings from the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig

Haus der Graphischen Sammlung

Max Klinger is regarded as one of the most important German artists of the late nineteenth century, whose »Griffelkunst’« (art of the stylus) ushered in a renaissance in the art of etching, anticipated Art Nouveau and is regarded as a forerunner of Surrealism. The exhibition presents four series of prints revolving around the major themes of life: love, longing, sin and temptation, suffering and death. Klinger explores gender roles, ambiguous sexual morality, social injustice and the emerging women’s movement in his imaginative depictions, which were unusually candid and even erotic for their time, blurring the boundaries between dream and reality.
The Augustinermuseum will be exhibiting works on loan from the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig. Rare proofs and preparatory drawings complement the etchings and illustrate Klinger’s working methods.