Modern Art + Design presents: Rolf Walter Collection

Rolf Walter – Functionality and beauty in focus

Born in Sachsen in 1938, Rolf Walter grew up in the former East Germany. The East German state did not allow him to study, so he fled to West Berlin in 1956. There, he studied mathematics and physics at Freie Universität, his greatest interest, however, was art and design, and it was in this interest that his collecting began.

At an exhibition at the Akademi der Künste in West Berlin, Rolf Walter saw a painting by the East German artist and poet Gerhard Altenbourg. He was so moved by the work that he decided to seek out Altenbourg to learn more about his art. The meeting led to a lifelong friendship and a large collection of the artist's work, which has been housed at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin since 2015.

During the same period, Rolf Walter became interested in the Bauhaus movement. Berlin was an excellent city to live in with this interest. The museums were full of art, and several contemporary architects had been given the opportunity to realize their ideas. His collecting was still motivated by his curiosity about the designer behind the objects. Rolf Walter had the opportunity to get to know Marianne Brandt, Kurt Schmidt, Margaretha Reichardt, and Wilhelm Wagenfeld, all of whom had studied at Bauhaus, the well-known German School of Arts and Crafts, Design, and Architecture. Rolf Walter was also interested in the work by Bauhaus students Marcel Breuer, Anton Lorenz, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.