Kasper König

German museum director and curator (born 1943)

Kasper König

Kasper König in 2009

Born|

Rudolf Hans König

1943 (age 80-81)

Mettingen, Westphalia, Germany

Occupation(s)| museum director and curator
Known for| Director, Museum Ludwig (2002–2012)
Spouses|

* Ilka Schellenberg[1]
* Edda Köchl-König (died 2015)

Children| 4; Johann König

Kasper König (born 1943) is a German museum director and curator.

## Career

[edit]

König was born in Mettingen.[2] In 1965 he traveled to New York as a courier on behalf of the Robert Fraser Gallery, where he lived intermittently until 1978.[3] From 1973 to 1975, König taught as an associate professor at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada.[3] He became a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1985.[4] Portikus, an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Frankfurt am Main, was founded in 1987 by König.[3] From 1988 to 2000, König taught as a professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, which he headed as rector from 1989.[3] From 2000 to 2012, he was director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne.[5][4]

## Exhibitions

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* In 1966 König curated his first exhibition at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm: "Claes Oldenburg".[3]
* 1969 Curator: Andy Warhol, Stockholm[4][6]
* In 1977 he was the founding director of Skulptur Projekte Münster, which then took place regularly in a cycle of ten years.[3]
* Westkunst, Cologne 1981[6]
* Curator Von hier aus – Zwei Monate neue deutsche Kunst in Düsseldorf in 1984.[7]
* Chief curator of Manifesta 10, which was hosted in St. Petersburg in 2014.[8][9]

## Awards

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### Honorary doctorates

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* 2005 Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax

## Controversy

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In December 2018, König was accused by artist Cana Bilir-Meier of making racist statements about German Turks at a panel event at the Munich Kammerspiele theatre.[10] These accusations have subsequently been criticised and rebuffed. [11]

## Personal life

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He was married to the actress Edda Köchl-König (1942–2015). Their son Johann König is a Berlin-based art dealer.[12]

## References

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1. ^ "Café Deutschland. Im Gespräch mit KASPER KÖNIG". cafedeutschland.staedelmuseum.de.
2. ^ "Kasper König - Städelschule". www.staedelschule.de.
3. ^ a b c d e f "Kasper König". staedelmuseum.de. Frankfurt: Staedel Museum. 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
4. ^ a b c Karich, Swantje (3 November 2012). "Aber einmal noch ein König". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurt. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
5. ^ "Curators from Germany - H - L - König, Kasper - Goethe-Institut".
6. ^ a b Amend, Christoph; Dudziak, Johannes (7 September 2018). ""Als ich 30 wurde, dachte ich, jetzt ist es vorbei"". Die Zeit (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 27 June 2020. (registration required)
7. ^ Kipphoff, Petra (5 October 1984). "Von hier aus – und was weiter?". Die Zeit (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 27 June 2020. (registration required)
8. ^ "Kasper König selected as Chief Curator of Manifesta 10 « MANIFESTA".
9. ^ "Manifesta Curator Named". The New York Times. 19 August 2013.
10. ^ "German Museum Director and Curator Accused of Making Racist Remarks About German-Turks at Panel". Hyperallergic. 11 December 2018.
11. ^ Schulze, Harald (January 2019). "Harald Schulze: Dekolonisierung der Kunst. Der Fall Kaspar König". Tichys Einblick - via www.academia.edu.
12. ^ "Europe's 10 Most Respected Art Dealers - artnet News". 18 July 2016.

## External links

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* Official website
* Literature by and about Kasper König in the German National Library catalogue

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Norway
* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* Israel
* Belgium
* United States
* Latvia
* Netherlands

Artists|

* Museum of Modern Art
* RKD Artists
* ULAN

People|

* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* IdRef