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The sculptures of the Daimler Art Collection, which was founded in 1977, reflect the collection’s orientation towards abstract-constructive and minimalist tendencies of art since 1945. With pieces from Bernhard Heiliger and Norbert Kricke to Heinz Mack and Max Bill, François Morellet, Jean Tinguely, Frank Stella and Mark di Suvero, the wide spectrum spans important German and international dimensions. Between 1983 and 2001, the works were initiated in large part as commissioned works of Daimler Benz / Daimler AG, at that time purchased by Hans J. Baumgart.

Between these parameters are the names of twenty-one artists and titles from as many public sculptures in Stuttgart, Sindelfingen, Ulm and Berlin; it is a deliberate “sculpture history” developed with long-term perspective.

Although the eleven large sculptures - acquired in the late 1980s for the former corporate headquarters in Stuttgart-Moehringen, and since set up partly in new locations - were collectively more bound to a constructive and minimalist imagery, they are thematically dominated by the interplay of nature and technology: the 42 meter high Große Stele (Great Stele) by Heinz Mack collects and reflects changing lighting moods; the granite sculpture by Ulrich Rückriem appears as a tree which has grown on the edge of a small lake; Walter De Maria's white stones from five continents comprise themselves a piece of geological history; the metal sculptures by George Rickey and Norbert Kricke make time and motion as the natural parameters of our existence visible; Max Bill’s “image columns” - a triad created 1989 which, with its height of 32 meters, represents a colored emblem by combining the skies over the Neckar valley near Stuttgart with the open space in front of the Mercedes- Benz Museum.

Parallel to the construction of the Daimler site at Potsdamer Platz, between 1995 and 2001, eight international artists have been selected, of whom an existing sculpture was purchased or a site-specific work has been commissioned: Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, François Morellet, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark di Suvero, Jean Tinguely and Auke de Vries. The works were realized in 1997. All participating artists in Berlin have in common that they have developed, sometimes over decades, their own strategy with which they engage the relationship between art and urban space. At the same time, all of the pieces give dimension to the question which is preoccupying Berlin: “The City' as a space for stories.”

For the spacious grounds of the Daimler factory in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, where the final assembly of many types of vehicles takes place, four large works have been acquired since the mid-1990s which connect aesthetically the open architectural structure at various points. Underneath are the airy, space-defining sculptures by Nigel Hall and Norbert Kricke that stand as natural monuments in the open exterior; Frank Stella's dynamically moving work embodies the innovative energy of the research center.

The Daimler Art Collection currently comprises some 1,800 works by German and international artists. The collection’s special profile is due to the orientation on abstrac-geometric image concepts. The collection took up its new exhibition rooms in Haus Huth on Potsdamer Platz in 1999. In Daimler Contemporary - the name of the exhibition space - the latest acquisitions are available for viewing, and the various major foci of the collection are presented as selected works, supplemented by smaller shows of work by individual artists and exhibitions


http://www.collection.daimler.com/