Press Release

Press Release | Gütersloh, 02/01/2021

Bertelsmann Sponsors Publication on Schlossplatz Cycle by Plein-Air Painter Christopher Lehmpfuhl

Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Thomas Rabe: “The paintings are extraordinary in every respect.”

For more than a decade, plein-air painter Christopher Lehmpfuhl documented the rapid structural change around Berlin’s Schlossplatz in more than a hundred large-format oil paintings – from the demolition of the former Palace of the Republic to the completion of the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace. Several paintings were created on the roof of Bertelsmann’s Berlin premises at Unter den Linden 1, just across from Schlossplatz. Reason enough for the media company to dedicate a 160-page art book to the artist’s creative phase, published by the Group’s own art book imprint Prestel, and to sponsor the publication as part of its commitment to culture. The bilingual work “Christopher Lehmpfuhl. Schlossplatz im Wandel – in Transition” is being distributed both in Germany and internationally as of today.

Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Thomas Rabe, art collector and philanthropist, sees Lehmpfuhl’s paintings as very intense and “extraordinary in every respect,” as he writes in the Foreword: “To observe him using his bare hands to scoop his paints out of buckets and bring them to life on the canvas in an all-out effort is to witness an uninhibited, all but elemental creative process.”

The Prestel publication presents 126 works from the “Schlossplatz in Transition” cycle – often man-sized paintings that Christopher Lehmpfuhl painted in the open air during all seasons of the year from 2008 to 2020, using his hands as his only painting tool. For art historian Thomas Gädecke, Lehmpfuhl’s portraits of the dynamic development in the old city center of Berlin are a “contemporary historical document,” as he notes in his introductory essay. Hartmut Dorgerloh, General Director of the Humboldt Forum, and Wilhelm von Boddien, Managing Director of the Förderverein Berliner Schloss e. V., also emphasize the inspiring effect and contemporary historical value of the paintings in their contributions to the book.

Bertelsmann and the former U5 project company had already presented some of Lehmpfuhl’s works from the Schlossplatz Cycle in 2018, inside Berlin’s then-unfinished “Unter den Linden” underground transit station. Under the title “Bau X Kunst” (Building X Art), they transformed the large construction site into a kind of underground gallery for two days, attracting around 14,000 Berliners.

“Christopher Lehmpfuhl. Schlossplatz im Wandel – in Transition”
Prestel, Hardcover, bilingual German/English, 160 pages
Publication date: February 1, 2021
ISBN 978-3-7913-7841-1
39,00 € [D], 40,10 € [A], 51,50 CHF

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 126,000 employees and generated revenues of €18.0 billion in the 2019 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.