Over time, Neues Museum has responded to the motto of the Blue Night with a series of specially installed rooms. This year, the focus is on “horizons” – a rewarding theme as it must not even be interpreted figuratively, since the Neues Museum collection includes some great examples of artists engaging with the longest line in the world. As the Turkish-American artist Bilge Friedlaender puts it: “Ultimate line is the HORIZON LINE”!
It’s no wonder artists love the dividing line between sky and earth, with striking examples provided by Anna-Eva Bergmann, Werner Knaupp, Antoni Tàpies and Pekka Walliander. Only in Gerhard Richter’s Bridge (at the Seaside) from the Böckmann Collection has the skyline slipped out of the horizontal. The artist Nina Jansen was more careful: she checks the horizon by applying a spirit level – which is why her seascape is “in the water”.