Sammlung Zander / Zander Collection

From the collection: Anonymous (Ethiopia)

1. War Italy / Abyssinia, undated
Oil on canvas
90 x 139.5 cm

2. War Italy / Abyssinia, undated
Oil on canvas
90 x 103.5 cm

3. Untitled, undated
Oil on canvas
87 x 189.5 cm

ON VIEW

Exhibition 9
Adalbert Trillhaase
5.9.–17.10.2026

Trillhaase does not start painting before he is sixty. His first pictures show hunters and bellowing stags, which soon give way to biblical scenes, motifs from distant lands, and portraits. In the literature on Trillhaase, the artist Otto Pankok is usually credited with having “discovered” him: legend has it that he observed him sitting at his writing desk, pensively gazing at the grain of the wood and discerning images in it. It was allegedly also Pankok who encouraged Trillhaase not just to seek out these images in the wood but to paint them with his own hand. The neat emotional appeal of this narrative, however, is what makes it seem implausible. Two publications by Pankok shape the public reception of Trillhaase’s work; it is he who introduces the stylistically questionable comparison to Henri Rousseau, placing the artist in the context of so-called “naïve art.”

More credible is the account given by Trillhaase’s daughter Felicitas Haller, an artist in her own right and a member of the Expressionist circle in the Rhineland around the gallerist Alfred Flechtheim. She recognizes the quality in his first works as early as 1918 and introduces him to the protagonists of the Düsseldorf art scene.

Images:
1. Young Woman (Felicitas Trillhaase), 5.12.1922, Pencil, Chalk on paper, 47.5 x 31.5 cm.
2. Hunter, 23.10.1921, Penicl on paper, 32.5 x 26 cm.

LAST WEEK!

Only one week left to visit “Charlotte Zander: Collector, Gallery Owner, Museum Founder” at ZADIK. Don’t miss the opportunity to explore the exhibition before it closes on September 25, 2026.

Charlotte Zander (1930–2014) began her career in the art world as a collector. Starting in the mid-1960s, she built up her collection with works by artists who had not studied at an art school—what was then known as “naive art.” Building on this, she founded Galerie Charlotte – Galerie für naive Kunst in Munich in 1971, which remained active until 1995. She then opened her private museum at Schloss Bönnigheim in 1996, where she presented her collection, organized exhibitions, and pursued collaborations with international cultural institutions.

The exhibition at ZADIK sheds light on the key stages in the life of the collector, gallery owner, and museum founder. How did Charlotte Zander shape the various roles she assumed over the course of her life? How did she go about giving visibility to the artistic positions she valued? How did her network with artists and other key figures in the art world function? What joint projects, exchanges, and discourses took place? The exhibition also encourages a critical examination of historical, often stigmatizing terminology. And it shows how the Zander Collection carries her legacy into the future.

OPENING

We are very excited that a total of 34 works by the artists Ilija Bosilj, Sava Sekulić, Matija Skurjeni, and Jože Tisnikar from the Zander Collection will soon be on view at the Galerija Božidar Jakac. We are very much looking forward to the exhibition:

Beyond Academia: Bosilj, Sekulić, Skurjeni, Tisnikar
25.9.2026–28.2.2027
Opening: 25.09.2027, 7pm
Galerija Božidar Jakac, Kostanjevica na Krki

Images:
1. Sava Sekulić, The Woman of the Old Slav, 1974, oil on cardboard, 77,5 x 69 cm.
2. Matija Skurjeni, Surprise Visit, 1958–61, oil on wood, 78 x 67,5 cm.
3. Ilija Bosilj, Apocalypse over Euphrates and Tigiris, 1967, oil on canvas, 145 x 100 cm.
4. Jože Tisnikar, The Bar, oil and tempera on canvas, 116 x 88 cm.

From the collection: André Bauchant (1873 in Château-Renault – 1958 in Montoire-sur-le-Loir, France)

Santa Maria, 1939
Oil on canvas
73 x 100 cm

ON VIEW

Exhibition 9
Adalbert Trillhaase
5.9.–17.10.2026

The human being stands at the center of Adalbert Trillhaase’s paintings and drawings. He portrays people or depicts them in relation to their surroundings: his daughter as a modern woman, the elegant passenger and his coachman battling a pack of wolves, the magician who seems to be conjuring a wild boar and a dog. Art and science make allegorical appearances in human form. Trillhaase expends great care on modeling the delicate faces of his figures; their postures are dynamic and vividly present. They strike the viewer as affecting and graceful, as though captured in mid-dance. In this way, he endows every one of his characters with their own personality and underscores their individuality. Some are set within richly detailed landscapes or before sketch-like backdrops; others are rendered entirely without such physical context. Their unconstrained arrangement and the dynamism of the compositions amplify the narrative impact of his works.

1. Art and Science, 1923
Mixed media on cardboard
27 x 22 cm

2. The Minnesinger, c. 1922
Oil on glassine
31 x 21 cm

3. Bearded Van with a Staff and a Switch, c. 1922
Oil on cardboard
26 x 22 cm

From the collection: Sailor Jerry Collins (1911 in Reno, NV – 1973 in Honolulu, HI, USA)

1. 2.H (Tattoo), 1973
Mixed media on paper
25.5 x 35.5 cm

2. 1.Y (Tattoo), 1973
Mixed media on paper
25 x 35.5 cm

3. 4.R (Tattoo), 1973
Mixed media on paper
25.5 x 35.5 cm

A big thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for the opening of “Exhibition 9 | Adalbert Trillhaase.” It was a wonderful evening.

The exhibition will be on view until October 17, 2026. We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition!

OPENING TONIGHT

Exhibition 9
Adalbert Trillhaase
5.9.–17.10.2026

You are cordially invited to the opening on Friday, September 4, from 6 – 9 pm.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on the occasion of this year’s DC Open. Opening hours: Saturday, September 5, from 1–7 pm and Sunday, September 6, from 1–5 pm

From the collection: Stephen Anderson (1953 in Rockford, IL, USA)

Humphrey Bogart as “Rick”, 1990
Tempera on Masonite
56 x 42 cm