Lore Bert Collection Würth et prêts

The work of the artist Lore Bert, who lives in Mainz and Venice, has been the focus of collector Reinhold Würth’s attention for many years. Her works, which are as sensual as they are philosophical, enrich the aspect of abstraction, which is given special consideration in the Würth Collection by artists such as Hans (Jean) Arp, Max Bill and many others, with an original focus of her own: work with paper. Lore Bert found in this medium, one could say, her destiny. She was particularly attracted to Far Eastern papers, which, beyond their haptic quality, build a cultural bridge. In a formal language that symbolically relates geometry, ornament, numbers and letters with contents of different cultures from Asia to Europe to America, she creates a universe that transcends spatial boundaries. Graceful and poetic at the same time!

The Musée Würth France Erstein, which has a particularly attractive architecture among the fifteen museums and art galleries in the Würth Group, gives the artist enough space to develop her work, which includes large-scale environments. In addition to the works from the Würth Collection, her installation The Five Platonic Solids – five mirror sculptures in a ocean of paper – has impressively and sensitively taken over the space in the large exhibition hall. Already presented in 2013 as part of the Venice Biennale, the installation can now be experienced and admired anew in this exhibition. Likewise, her programmatic cycle Europe – Identity in Difference, which Reinhold Würth acquired for his collection in 2013 not least because of his constant and committed interest in a united Europe, comes into full effect here.

Our heartfelt thanks go to Lore Bert who, together with and supported by Dorothea van der Koelen, has played a major personal role in the success of this exhibition. We also extend our sincere thanks to Dottoressa Cristiana Coletti for her all-around illuminating and insightful contribution to Lore Bert’s work.

At the same time, we would like to thank Marie-France Bertrand, director of the Musée Würth France Erstein, and her curator Claire Hirner as well as her entire team for the realization of the project. Our gratitude goes to Würth France for providing the means indispensable for such an undertaking. It is also thanks to the passionate collecting of the entrepreneur Reinhold Würth and his sincere and curious interest in art that we are able to present exhibitions like this one to our attentive public, which is a great pleasure for us.

taken from the opening speech of C. Sylvia Weber
Executive Vice President
of the Wuerth Group for Arts and Culture

In our Video of the Week Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen reports directly out of the exhibition hall.