"... wash out your eyes" - Dieter Stein, Retrospective

The well-known Würzburg artist Dieter Stein would have been 100 years old in 2024. As early as 1950, he shocked the Würzburg audience with the first abstract paintings ever to be seen here. This made Josef Versl's student the most important protagonist of post-war modernism in the region, whose work was discussed nationally and internationally; He exhibited in Paris, Hamburg and Tokyo, among others. His works can be found not only in the Museum im Kulturspeicher (MiK), but also in the Kamen Collection on the Museumsinsel Hombroich, in the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, in the Städel Museum Frankfurt and in the Lenbachhaus in Munich.

Dieter Stein has received recognition for his artistic work in the Würzburg region and far beyond. In 1955 he received the scholarship from the Kulturkreis im Bundesverband der deutschen Industrie, and in 1960/61 the scholarship from Villa Massimo in Rome. He is the recipient of the Unterfränkischen Kulturpreis (1990) and the Würzburg Culture Prize (1992). He has had a lasting impact on artistic life in Unterfranken through his exhibition, mediation and teaching activities as well as his role model of an idiosyncratic, self-confident position.

Over decades, Dieter Stein developed his abstract formal language from the colorful, very geometric early pictures to his economical, elegant and exciting late works. In addition to the abstract paintings, Stein's figurative drawings and etchings are particularly noteworthy, revealing an unusual perspective and original creativity and power. The MiK owns several works by the painter and draftsman. These are shown in the exhibition together with works from the estate as well as loans from museum and private collections. For the first time, the exhibition and catalog trace the artist's biography and artistic career in detail.

A catalogue will be published by Kerber-Verlag.
Supported by: Freundeskreis Kulturspeicher e.V., Rotary Club Würzburg, Sparkasse Mainfranken, Unterfränkische Kulturstiftung, Würzburg Kulturstiftung.
The exhibition is being organised in close cooperation with Dieter Stein's heirs.