Winfred Gaul

Works from the Kemp Collection

15 October 2026 – 7 February 2027

Winfred Gaul

Date

15 October 2026 – 7 February 2027

Location

» Kunstpalast
  • Admission: 16 € / concessions 12 €

  • Children / young people under 18: free

  • Members of Friends of the Kunstpalast: free

Winfred Gaul, Hommage à Rothko, 1971
Winfred Gaul, Hommage à Rothko, 1971

In autumn 2026, the Kunstpalast will stage a major exhibition dedicated to Düsseldorf artist Winfried Gaul, featuring around 120 paintings and works on paper from the collection donated by Willi Kemp in 2011. Spanning 1955 to 1997, the show offers a wide-ranging survey of Gaul’s practice and highlights the close relationship between the artist and his collector.

Winfred Gaul, finger paint (rub 5 colors from top to bottom), 1977
Winfred Gaul, finger paint (rub 5 colors from top to bottom), 1977

Winfried Gaul (1928–2003) helped shape post-war art in Germany through his conviction that non-objective painting offered a path to renewal. His work shifts between openness and rigour, expression and sign, rootedness and distance; each brushstroke tests the interplay of colour, line and surface. A two-time documenta participant, he navigated the space between the free gesture of Art Informel and the strict order of geometric form. The works on view span more than four decades – from spontaneous wipe paintings and signal-like road signs to variations on colour-field painting – revealing an artist who, until his death, continually reinvented his approach to colour.