Neo Rauch

Widely celebrated as one of the most influential figurative painters working today, Neo Rauch (b. 1960) is known for richly colored and elaborate paintings that contain a repertoire of invented characters, settings, objects, and motifs. At once realistic and familiar, enigmatic and inscrutable, his paintings often hint at broader narratives and histories—seemingly reconnecting with the artistic traditions of realism—yet they are dreamlike and frequently contain disparate and overlapping spaces and forms.

Rauch was born in Leipzig, where he continues to live and work, and studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst. Rauch has been represented by David Zwirner since his first show with the gallery in New York in 2000. The solo exhibition Field Signs, was presented at David Zwirner, Hong Kong, in 2023. In 2019, Neo Rauch: Propaganda was exhibited at the gallery’s Hong Kong location, marking the artist’s first solo presentation in China, and Neo Rauch: Rondo was presented in 2016 at the gallery’s London location. Previous solo exhibitions at the gallery in New York include The Signpost (2021), At the Well (2014), Heilstätten (2011), Neo Rauch (2008), Renegaten (2005), Neo Rauch (2002), and the aforementioned Neo Rauch (2000).

Rauch's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at prominent institutions internationally. In 2023, his solo exhibition The Dream of Reason was presented at MoCo Montpellier Contemporain, France. In 2022–2023, Neo Rauch: Wegzehr, an exhibition of his works on paper, was shown at the Drents Museum, Assen, and Neo Rauch: Die Mitte was on view at Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, both in the Netherlands. Neo Rauch – Works from 2008 to 2019 was on view at the Palazzo Pitti, Florence, in 2019–2020. Neo Rauch: Aus dem Boden was presented in 2018–2019 at Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, and traveled to The Drawing Center, New York. Neo Rauch: Dromos, Painting 1993–2017 was presented at Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, the Netherlands, in 2018. In 2013, BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels presented a solo show of the artist’s work entitled Neo Rauch: The Obsession of the Demiurge. Selected Works 1993–2012 and in 2010 his first major museum survey was cohosted by the Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig and the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. A version of this survey was shown at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, in 2011.

Other venues which have presented solo exhibitions include the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany (2012); Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany (2011); Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria (2011); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2007); Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague (2007); Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2006); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (2006); Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain (2005); Albertina, Vienna (2004); and the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, the Netherlands (2002).

In 2012, the Grafikstiftung Neo Rauch opened in Aschersleben, Germany, where the artist was raised. The foundation is dedicated to maintaining and preserving Rauch's entire graphic oeuvre. In celebration of its ten-year anniversary, the Grafikstiftung Neo Rauch opened an exhibition of Rauch’s prints made since 1988, which is on view through April 28, 2024.

Institutional collections that hold works by the artist include the Albertina Museum, Vienna; Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, the Netherlands; The Broad, Los Angeles; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Denver Museum of Art; the Des Moines Art Center, Iowa; Fondation Beyeler, Basel; Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence; Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin; Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, the Netherlands; National Gallery of Ottawa, Canada; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; San Francisco Museum of Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Space K, Seoul; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, among others.