SAINT LOUIS.- German Art Now, organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum, examines the international impact of German art in the second half of the 20th century with more than 40 works from the Museum’s renowned collection - the foremost collection of 20th-century German art in the world. The exhibition introduces 16 major works recently acquired by the Museum, as well as 5 works on long-term loan, to present together for the first time many of the most seminal examples of painting, sculpture, and photography produced by the leading German artists of our time. German Art Now and related programming is supported by the German pharmaceuticals and chemicals Group ALTANA AG as part of their cultural engagement worldwide.

German Art Now provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the influences and implications of the remarkable art produced in Germany from the early 1960s into the last decade of the 20th century. The artists represented in the exhibition are Georg Baselitz, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Joseph Beuys, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Jörg Immendorff, Anselm Kiefer, Markus Lüpertz, A. R. Penck, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Thomas Ruff, and Thomas Struth. The Museum’s new acquisitions of works by Baselitz, Beuys, Immendorff, Lüpertz, Penck, and Polke as well as five works on long-term loan to the Museum make this exhibition of 20th -century German art even more significant.

Brent Benjamin, director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, said: "Over the years, generous benefactors and collectors have established the Saint Louis Art Museum as one of the great centers for the collection and appreciation of modern and contemporary German art. This exhibition celebrates our most recent efforts, and we’re grateful for ALTANA’s support in this important endeavor."

The exhibition German Art Now and the catalogue, published by the Saint Louis Art Museum and Merrell Publishers, Inc., provide insight into artistic practices in Germany and highlight a number of prominent German artists whose new ideas have had a significant impact on the art world. The Museum will sponsor a symposium on October 16 and 17 that includes presentations by international scholars.

Generous support for the exhibition and related programming is being provided by ALTANA as part of a long-term collaboration between the Saint Louis Art Museum and the ALTANA Kulturforum, which plans to show this exhibition in Germany. "Between the US and Germany there are traditional ties of friendship, which root in a common culture," says Nikolaus Schweickart, Chairman of the Board, ALTANA AG. "In this line the exhibition continues the tradition with a dialogue on contemporary art. Our support of German Art Now at the Saint Louis Art Museum is both strengthening the dialogue between American and German culture and an expression of our cultural engagement as a good corporate citizen." The collaboration will include future scholarly projects now being planned. The ALTANA Kulturforum will organize a showing of the exhibition to open in September 2004 at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie in Frankfurt, Germany.