Sagenhaft! 40 Jahre Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie

7 garte Gallery. We at first moved into the airy rooms of Breite Street 3-7, a classicist building in Biele- feld’s old center city. With self-assurance and tons of engagement we even there were able to show noteworthy exhibitions of classical modernism, contemporary artists and experimental tendencies and continued to expand our international activities. Two years later we moved to the new premises of Am Bach 1b. Then, with our 1991 relocation in an entire building at Obernstrasse 28, I took over the gallery managment on my own. My mother wanted to exclude everything other than work on her own art. Thus followed the large exhibitions at Obern- strasse, among others, with Joseph Beuys, Frank Stella, Louise Nevelson, women’s portrayals in the 20th century, the encounter years ”Otto Dix und Ru- dolf Schlichter“, Fabrizio Plessi, Sam Francis, Rainer Fetting, Georg Baselitz. After ten successful years, the gallery increasingly lacked adequate space. I therefore decided in 2005 to relocate the gallery to the former headquarters of the Dresdner Bank at the Niederwall address. Af- ter a thorough as well as thrilling renovation, the in- terior of the building was provided with a white cube sufficient for a large German gallery. There, where once bank affairs flourished, today col- lectors and enthusiasts set off on an art journey, ready to visit internationally well-known artists and discover new promising ones in our Bielefeld gal- lery’s solo and group exhibitions. The art dialogue is manifold: The main representatives of Expres- sionism, the Informel, ZERO, concrete art, as well as major art positions from the 1980s and 1990s and, again and again, ongoing contemporary art from here and abroad. Our requirements are based on a love of art. They are our lifeblood’s maxim: challenge, courage and self-motivation, a constant injunction to our public to open its eyes and become engaged with the out- of-the-ordinary artistic positions of our time and be- yond. The jubilee exhibition “Sagenhaft”/Legendary in one large show presents the most signifcant art- ists that have marked, and still mark, the gallery’s program through all these years, all of whom enjoy international recognition. Extraordinary paintings, sculptures, photographs and video works are on show that merge with the installation of the floral artist, Mario Mahlstedt, in a wondrous fairytale dialogue. Opening a gallery is at any time a difficult undertak- ing. An adventure. A passion that in the beginning years is marked by a feeling for quality, an unshake- able optimism and a quantum of luck. And of course also self-doubt. You have to constantly go through the world with open eyes, never become artistically drained and always confront your own motivation as a gallerist. Failures, too, are a part of longterm success. Never give up and break faith with your- self. “For it’s always about the art,” my mother Ruth Baumgarte would have said. That she died in 2013 left a deep gap. Myinnermostthanksconcernsher:thegallery’sfound- er. Without Ruth Baumgarte the successful course our gallery has taken would have never been possible. My special acknowledgements likewise go out to all the artists, collectors, colleagues and people who have accompanied and supported me, each in his/ her own way. Alexander Baumgarte, September 2015

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