International Society

International Society Museum Ludwig

Thanks to its unique collection and exhibition program, the Museum Ludwig has enjoyed long-standing ties with the USA. In 2018 we launched the international wing of the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst on the other side of the Atlantic. This is especially appropriate because American artists and sensibilities figure so largely in our collection and activities.

Pop Art Collection at the Museum Ludwig
Pop Art Collection at the Museum Ludwig © Franz Gertsch © Howard Kanovitz © 2020 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2020 for the works from: © Peter Thomas Blake, © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, © Estate of James Rosenquist, © R. Hamilton. All Rights Reserved, © Robert Indiana and Morgan Art Foundation, © The Estate of Tom Wesselmann. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln, Schlier, Britta, rba_d040520_25

Each year we host between two to three events in New York where we visit artist studios, have private tours with special guests, or offer exclusive events to our members. The Museum Ludwig Director, Yilmaz Dziewior, the Deputy Director, Rita Kersting, or our Chairwoman, Mayen Beckmann, are in attendance for the events. We also offer private invitations to all of the Museum Ludwig exhibitions.

We are grateful to Andrea Fraser, who has given the final push for this, as well as to Wade Guyton and Barbara Kruger, who have both supported the project from the beginning.

“Supporting modern and contemporary art and its institutions today must mean more than paying membership fees or giving donations of money or art. It also must mean defending the values and structures that enabled modernist and avant garde culture to develop and thrive and that enable museums to present and reflect that culture with autonomy and integrity. […] So I urge you to join the International Society of the Museum Ludwig Cologne and give to the museum, not (just) for exclusive parties, international trips, and the tax benefits, but to support and defend a public institution that represents and promotes the values of an open, tolerant, democratic society.”

Andrea Fraser, “Remarks for the Launch of the International Society Museum Ludwig, Cologne, January 8, 2017” (excerpts)

The Museum Ludwig Website

Modern Art Collection at the Museum Ludwig
Modern Art Collection at the Museum Ludwig © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2020 for the works from: © David Smith, © Franz Klein, © The Willem de Kooning Foundation, New York, © Lee Krasner and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. © 2020 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and © The Estate of Philip Guston, Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Saša Fuis

For further information, please contact Kim Collmer, Coordinator, International Society at collmer@international-society-museum-ludwig.com. Thank you so much for your interest! We look forward to hearing from you!