The list of artworks in Irene and Peter Ludwig’s Collection is long. It contains a large number of art history’s most celebrated artists such as Gerhard Richter, Jasper Johns or Richard Hamilton to name but a few, which the couple has collected since the early 1960s. Twenty years later Gabriele and Wilhelm Schürmann started collecting art in the mid 1980s. Concentrating on context oriented positions informed by Institutional Critique and political art, their collection counteracts major currents in art followed by the Ludwigs. Including artists by the likes of Martin Kippenberger, Christopher Williams, Valie Export or Franz West, the Schürmann Collection is one of the most important collections of contemporary art in Germany today.

For the very first time these two collections have been brought together at the Aachener Ludwig Forum. Around 200 pieces from the Schürmann Collection and 50 artworks from the Ludwig Collection form an interesting juxtaposition, that challenges the viewer to take a fresh perspective on the respective collection.

What soon becomes apparent is a fascinating dialogue about art and the passion of collecting it; revealing something about the many routes a collection can take and the beneficial effect of supplementing its pieces with a collection that has taken a slightly different journey.