UNCLOTHED/UNDRESSED

Since the dawn of art history, the nude has been one of its central yet controversial subjects of research. The discipline has tested its methods, interpretative approaches and limits across epochs and media through the depiction of the unclothed human body.
The exhibition UNBEKLEIDET/AUSGEZOGEN sheds light on this history of research and at the same time questions the current relevance of the nude. The title refers to the artificiality of nudity: 'UNBEKLEIDET' ('unclothed') denotes the negation of a state, while 'AUSGEZOGEN ('undressed') refers to nudity as the result of a process of undressing. The nude thus appears as a product of aesthetic, social and, ultimately, power-political constellations – whereby in the triad of model, artist and audience, it is not always clear who exercises power over whom.
In 13 chapters, the exhibition spans the arc from Johann Joachim Winckelmann to feminist, queer and postcolonial perspectives. Against the backdrop of today's debates on body images and sensibilities, it shows the nude as a historically changeable arena of social negotiations.

Last edited on 05.03.2026