DRESDEN.- One of the most internationally well-known collectors of contemporary art, Egidio Marzona, has donated his archive of 20th-century avant-garde works to Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. With one and a half million items, it is the world's largest archive of avant-garde items from that time. From expressionism and futurism, art informel, pop art and Fluxus to post-modernism and the Junge Wilde, it offers an in-depth insight into the history of the major art movements of a 20th century characterised by a search for radical innovation. Collected since the end of the 1960s, the collection comprises large amounts of correspondence, manifestoes, sketches and collages, posters, photographs and films, along with artist's books, signed catalogues and journals. The addition of examples of art works, sculptures, paintings and designer items brings all the isms to life.

This comprehensive archive of 20th-century avant-garde art provides an excellent insight into the conceptual network and intellectual exchange of the time, not only in the field of the fine arts, but also in architecture, design, film, music, theatre, dance, literature and concrete poetry. It is a unique document of a period characterised by visionary creative forces and dynamic momentum.

In Dresden, the archive will be kept in the “Blockhaus” at the Augustusbrücke bridge. This is at the northern end of Augustusbrücke, which links the two banks of the Elbe, and thus makes the building the perfect place, as the gateway to the Neustadt district. Built in 1732 according to plans by Zacharius Longuelune, it housed the “Corps de Garde”, the Neustadt sentries. Between 1975 and 1982, the building, ruined in the war, was rebuilt in its original baroque design. The Free State of Saxony has funded its renovation and staffing.

Egidio Marzona (born in Bielefeld in 1944) previously already donated a large part of his important art collection to the Preussischer Kulturbesitz foundation at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Now he is giving Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden his extensive archive – and thus a considerable asset in terms of cultural history. The archive of the avant-garde will form a matrix on the basis of which a wide range of topics from different disciplines and cultural phenomena can be developed and linked in novel ways. The main aim will be cooperation – international, unconventional, experimental, focusing especially on involving young researchers and students so as to integrate the perspective of a younger, digital, global generation shaped by the media. In this respect a key role will be played by the well-established cooperation between Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, which is now to be extended through joint projects developed on the basis of the Marzona art collection and the archive of the avant-garde.

For Egidio Marzona, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden is the perfect place for his archive, which was previously kept in various cities: “My talks with Marion Ackermann and Minister President Stanislaw Tillich showed me that Dresden possesses all the qualities I could wish for to bring out the best in the archive. It has excellent academic connections while at the same time offering presentational and educational facilities for a large public audience. This is an institution which can bring to life the visionary body of thought of the 20th century while at the same time remaining open to new academic interests in the 21st century. This kind of accessibility is particularly important to me: understanding archives as laboratories where scientists research and present their subject with the active involvement of the public. This gets things rolling not only in Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the city, but also in the region and far beyond. The Free State of Saxony has provided an eminently suitable building for this purpose: the Blockhaus at Augustusbrücke, right by the Residenzschloss, Zwinger, Albertinum and Japanese Palace. I am extremely grateful to Stanislaw Tillich for also promising to take care of necessary staffing. Marion Ackermann, Hermann Parzinger and I agree that intensive cooperation should take place to make the archive at Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, along with the art collection at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, part of an international research network on the 20th century avant-garde.“

Stanislaw Tillich, Minister President of the Free State of Saxony, says: “The donation of this unique archive is a huge benefit for Saxony as a region of culture and a great enrichment to Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. It fills a gap in contemporary art: the Blockhaus will be turned into a new space for us to think about modernity. I am delighted that Mr Marzona trusts Saxony to take good care of his life's work. It is a great honour for Saxony and is close to my own heart. At the same time, the decision is a declaration of belief in Dresden as a city of the arts. The archive will cause a big Modernist stir in this Baroque city and is an invitation to the world. Dresden gains an even more visible presence in the world of art; an even louder voice in the international discourse on art.“

The designated Director General of Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Marion Ackermann, says, “I could hardly have imagined a better start to my new duties in Dresden. By virtue of the variety of its 14 museums, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden is dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach, and that approach is put into practice here in our research and exhibitions. The SKD is also a renowned academic skills centre. We can use the archive of the avant-garde to strengthen and extend both of these aspects. There is also a third, very important aspect: it is in Dresden that the avant-garde launched the 20th century with a bang – just think of the roof all movements, ‘Die Brücke’, the founding of the Dresdner Sezession or New Objectivity in Dresden. This archive of 20th-century avant-garde is the perfect opportunity to link in with those times. A historical stroke of luck!“

Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, comments, “In 2002–2004 and in 2014, Egidio Marzona already gave much of his art collection and parts of his archive to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz), helping to fill them considerable gaps in the art of the 1960s and 1970s in the Nationalgalerie 's collection. Today, it would be almost impossible for Staatliche Museen zu Berlin to buy works of this quality on the art market due to their high prices. Marzona's initiative has also helped pave the way within politics for a new museum at the Kulturforum. The planned Museum of the 20th Century will thus be built with exhibition spaces for the works and archives donated by Marzona.

If an archive of the avant-garde is now created in Dresden thanks to Marzona's work, that will not be competition for Berlin; it will be a valuable addition for Germany as a nation of culture. While the Museum of the 20th Century concentrates on the artworks, the Dresden museum will focus entirely on the archive. A cooperation agreement between Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden will ensure that this unique collection is open for access and research. As a result, Berlin and Dresden will benefit equally from the collector's generosity.“