The Josef-Hegenbarth-Archive keeps a very special treasure with the artist’s estate at the place of its creation. Not only are drawings, prints and paintings by Josef Hegenbarth conserved here, but also do more than 15 linear meters of written and photographic material provide information on a rich and manifold artist life.
A special collection is the private letters he shared with artist friends, colleagues and companions. They are impressive documents of changing times and give proof of a nearly extinct everyday art: the handwritten creation and decoration of letters and postcards. For the first time, a selection of very interesting objects regarding content and art from the countless autographs and typescripts is presented to the public in an exhibition.
Next to letters and card greetings from friends, such as Max Schwimmer, Theodor Rosenhauer, Otto Dix und Herbert Volwahsen, the exhibition’s focus is on the rather hardly known, but very personal exchange between Josef Hegenbarth and the draughtswomen Franziska Bilek and Hanna Nagel. Their correspondence not only included humorous punch lines, but also profoundly melancholic life confessions.
