Starting on May 20, 2025, the Kupferstichkabinett presents the exhibition Das alles bin ich!, dedicated to the donation of collector Christoph Müller. The show brings together selected graphic works that reflect a collecting journey as diverse as it is personal.
Fig. above: Louis Douzette, Evening sky over a landscape, gouache, Photo: Christoph Müller Foundation / Kilian Beutel
Christoph Müller (1938-2024), formerly a publisher in Tübingen and from 2004 an art collector and patron in Berlin, was a true ‘Robin Hood of art’. He enriched numerous German museums with generous donations and supported targeted acquisitions. He followed cultural life very closely and was on friendly terms with several museums. He maintained a particularly close relationship with the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett. He revered his former director Max J. Friedländer (1867-1958) for his expertise and precise language and donated a prize named after him. Back in 2007, Christoph Müller donated over 240 drawings and 130 prints of Dutch art to the Kupferstichkabinett. Now, as a generous donation from the Christoph Müller Foundation, over 200 high-quality and exciting works from all European schools from the 16th to the 21st century have been added to the collection. In their motivic and stylistic diversity, they reflect in a special way Christoph Müller’s character as an enthusiastic and enthusiastic collector with wide-ranging interests.
The works are gradually being shown in the cabinet room in the picture gallery under the title ‘Das alles bin ich’ (‘I am all that’) in changing thematic presentations. They provide an insight into the collector’s diverse passions and interests.
Portraits and plant studies, harbour and history paintings, landscapes and genre scenes – this exhibition presents the entire spectrum of an extraordinary collection. With works from the early modern period to the present day, a fascinating cross-section of European art history unfolds. The works on paper on display come from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and France by artists such as Luca Cambiaso: Luca Cambiaso, Stefano della Bella, Salvatore Rosa, Oswald Achenbach, Carl Gustav Carus, Adolph von Menzel, Georg Kersting, Johann Barthold Jongkind, Max Liebermann, Theodore Rousseau, Carl Spitzweg, Lovis Corinth, Camille Corot, Franz Skarbina, Lesser Ury, Abraham Bloemaert, Daniel Chodowiecki, Caroline Friederike Friedrich, Hannah Höch, Carlfriedrich Claus, Konrad Klapheck, Johannes Grützke, Werner Tübke, Wolfgang Mattheuer and Miron Schmückle – they tell of man and nature, of history and the everyday, of faith, feeling and creative power. On display are depictions of figures and nudes, seascapes, nature studies, animals, forests and much more.
Christoph Müller died in Berlin in 2024 at the age of 86. The exhibition is intended as a tribute to his art-promoting work, as a sign of gratitude.
In future, all the works from the donation will be available to the public and researchers in the Kupferstichkabinett’s study room and online, thus offering an opportunity for new discoveries and the joy of art, in keeping with Christoph Müller’s spirit.
Change of thematic presentations
A world of words and images
20 th May – 24 th August 2025
The presentation refers to Müller’s activities as a publisher and critic as well as his passion for art and collecting. An interest in art and culture manifests itself in many ways: some people collect books and pictures, others are interested in music, religious and philosophical themes. Some of the exhibited works are dedicated to the artistic representation of knowledge, its communication and appropriation through reading, but also to creativity and intellectual exchange.
Encounters
26th August – 30th November 2025
‘Encounters’ is dedicated to relationships between people, socialising and the individual portrayal of single people. Life always moves between closeness and withdrawal, between moments of sharing and times of solitude. Some works show togetherness – social gatherings, mutual exchange, shared experiences, shared glances. They reflect the character of the busy collector, who cultivated many friendships and enjoyed celebrating parties. Portraits, nudes and figures, on the other hand, focus on the individual, the self-portrait, the quiet reflection.
Travelling and being at home
2nd December 2025 to 8th March 2026
In art, we encounter travelling and being at home in atmospheric landscapes, atmospheric seascapes and impressive cityscapes. This chapter brings together works that tell of travelling and arriving, of familiarity with a place and dreaming of faraway places. They show paths and horizons, harbours and houses, coastlines and cityscapes – places where people live, pause or move on.
For Christoph Müller, Berlin and the Baltic Sea – especially Sassnitz – were important places in his life, which are reflected in the works in his collection.
Leaf and life’s work
10th March – 14th June 2026
Animals, plants, trees and forests – a wealth of graphic sheets, drawings and watercolours reflect the diversity of artistic explorations of nature. In art, depictions of nature serve, for example, as a source of knowledge, for the preservation of beauty or as a mirror of divine creation. Nature and animal studies bear witness to close observation and the desire to understand and capture the world around us. In some works, nature has a symbolic character: as a symbol of growth, transience and life. It is also a place where people connect with themselves and the world.
WHEN?
Exhibition dates: From Tuesday, 20 th May 2025, from 10 am to 6 pm.
WHERE?
Kupferstichkabinett
Johanna-und-Eduard-Arnhold-Platz / Matthäikirchplatz
10785 Berlin
