MUNICH, GERMANY.- Haus der Kunst presents masterpieces from the Ruth and Peter Herzog Collection of Basel in the exhibition titled "The Body of Photography." The renowned collection, focusing on 19th century photography, is being shown here for the first time outside Switzerland. Ruth and Peter Herzog have made a representative selection comprised of about 400 works from their collection of almost 300,000. With this exhibition, the informal series dedicated to presenting distinctive private collections at the Haus der Kunst resumes. The series began with the exhibition Partners of the Canadian collector Ydessa Hendeles in 2003/04 and now continues with the presentation of the Generali Foundation Collection of Vienna. The idea of the series is to formulate distinguished and unusual positions. "The collection of Ruth and Peter Herzog has achieved its uniqueness through the collectors' eyes, which do not look to the art market but rather to the remnants of history that photography has left behind as traces for us." So the media scholar Hubertus von Amelunxen describes the unique quality of the collection that was begun in 1974. Peter Herzog, lawyer and art expert, maintains: "Our collection is a great life-mosaic for me. Every human task, every corner of the earth, has been photographed." In order to give this physical constitution of human beings a context, the Herzogs chose the title The Body of Photography for the show that they have curated. The core of the collection has been presented in display cabinets, building a stylized body.