The Ludwig Museum at the Russian Museum

In 1994 famous German collectors Peter and Irene Ludwig gifted their collection of art of the second half of the XX-th century. This gift resulted in a special part of the permanent exhibition «The Ludwig Museum at the Russian Museum» which hosted its first visitors on the 20 March, 1995 at the Marble Palace. The content of the collection was defined by the collectors together with the representatives of the Russian Museum. Among the artists whose works happen to be part of the collection are Pablo Picasso, Joseph Beuys, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, George Seagull, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Anselm Kiefer, Jorg Immendorff, Jonathan Borofsky, Jeff Koons, Ilya Kabakov and others.

«The Ludwig Museum at the Russian Museum» reflects the major preferences of the collectors. The collection has two main core directions. The first is American op-art the importance of which was immediately comprehended by the Ludwigs. The pop-art, which was the most radical art movement of that time, became the foundation for the future collection. The second movement the Ludwigs gave preference to was the German neo-expressionism which brought back timeliness to the painting in 1980-ies together with the debatable phenomenon of «the German» in German art.

Regular participation of the works from «The Ludwig Museum at the Russian Museum» in world art projects proves the collection to be of high quality and viability. In 2014 the Russian Museum organized the exhibition of the collection in Brazil. The exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Bank of Brazil in Rio-de-Janeiro became second in visiting rate. During first two months of the display it had been seen by 530 088 visitors in the cities of Sao-Paulo, Belo-Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro. The total number of visitors was around one million.

Pablo Picasso

Big Heads. 1969. Oil on canvas

Andy Warhol

Portrait of Peter Ludwig. 1980. Silkscreen on canvas

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol

Untitled. 1984. Oil and acrylic on canvas

Georg Baselitz

Bottle and Eagle. Diptych. 1977-1978. Oil on plywood

Cy Twombly

Untitled. 1968. Oil on canvas

Roy Lichtenstein

Ruins. 1965. Acrylic on canvas

Erik Bulatov

Melting Clouds. 1982-1987. Oil on canvas

Igor Makarevich

Portrait of Ivan Chuikov. 1981. Oil on wood

Igor Makarevich

The Golden Space of Bulatov (Portrait of Erik Bulatov). 1988. Alcyd resin and particle board

Robert Rauschenberg

The Turkish Bath of Ingres. 1967. Silkscreen, white, screen painting, paper, cardboard and collage

Dmitry Prigov

Malevich’s Square. 1989. Left part. Indian ink and ballpoint pen on newspaper

Dmitry Prigov

Malevich’s Square. 1989. Right  part. Indian ink and ballpoint pen on newspaper

Jorg Immendorff

The Nose. 2003. Bronze

Anselm Kiefer

Big Iron Fist Germany. 1979. Oil and acrylic on canvas

Ilya Kabakov

The Garden. Diptych. 1978. Enamel on fiberboard

Claes Oldenburg

Banana Splits and Glaces en Degustation. 1964. Object. Painted and lacquered plaster, glazed ceramic and strainless steel; in a showcase

Tom Wesselmann

Steel Drawing with Fruit, Flowers and Monica. 1986. Enamel and laser-cut steel

Richard Artschwager

ICS – Computer Center. 1969. Acrylic and graphite on celotex

Ralph Goings

Unadilla Diner. 1977. Oil on canvas

Jeff Koons

Cherubs. Part 1. 1991. Wood (?), levkas, oil (?), painting and gilding

Jasper Johns

Shade. 1956. Object. Encaustic, wood, metal and canvas

Viktor Pivovarov

Long-long Arm. 1972. Enamel on fiberboard

Vladimir Yankilevsky

Triptych No. 14. Self-Portrait (Dedicated to my Father). Object. 1987. Mixed media