The Adolf Luther Foundation is looking for a foundation curator and managing director

The Adolf Luther Foundation, based in the former artist and residential studio in Krefeld, was founded in 1989 by the Krefeld light and object artist Adolf Luther (1912-1990). The aim and task of the foundation is to promote and support research in the field of Concrete Art and abstraction and to preserve the artistic work of Adolf Luther and his collection.

The foundation’s collection comprises around 1000 works by Adolf Luther (drawings, paintings, graphic art, object art, installations) from the period from 1942 to 1990. Works by Yves Klein and Lucio Fontana, the Nouveaux Réalistes and the Zero movement, Herbert Zangs as well as Ad Reinhardt and Joseph Beuys are also part of the collection.

Since May 2025, the Adolf Luther Foundation and the Kunstmuseen Krefeld launched a long-term partnership, which strengthens Krefeld as a key venue for Concrete Art. The Adolf Luther Foundation at the Kunstmuseen Krefeld creates synergies in the field of Concrete Art, through joint activities such as collection presentations, exhibitions, events, research and restoration projects.

Three venues – the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum (KWM), Haus Lange and Haus Esters by Mies van der Rohe – together form the Kunstmuseen Krefeld. The profile outlines an experimental, international and interdisciplinary program in the field of modern and contemporary art, design and architecture. The Kunstmuseen Krefeld were awarded Museum of the Year by AICA Germany in 2022.

The Adolf Luther Foundation is looking for a

Foundation curator and managing director m/f/d full-time

In this responsible position, you will work 50% for the Adolf Luther Foundation and 50% for the Kunstmuseen Krefeld, acting as the interface between the two institutions.

The salary is based on German public service salary grid (TVöD 13)

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Your responsibilities

Management of the Adolf Luther Foundation and strategic development and positioning of the artist‘s foundation in coordination with the foundation’s board of directors

Strategic and organizational development of the cooperation between the Adolf Luther Foundation and the Kunstmuseen Krefeld in collaboration with the Foundation Board and the director of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld

Conception and realization of exhibitions in the Kunstmuseen Krefeld in the field of concrete art and related disciplines (design, architecture, etc.), from a historical and contemporary perspective

Supervision of a permanent collection room of the Luther Foundation in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum

Conception, realization and support of exhibitions on Adolf Luther and his collection in other institutions on a national and international level

Realization of publications

Scientific research on Adolf Luther

Maintaining and managing the Adolf Luther Foundation’s collection: managing loans, conservation measures, ongoing digitization of the catalogue raisonné and continued maintenance of the archive

Press and public relations work for the Adolf Luther Foundation

Conception of public and educational programs

Guided tours for visitors to the artists‘ foundation

Budget management and fundraising

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Your profile:

Graduate degree (MA or doctorate) in art history

Excellent knowledge of concrete art and global developments in abstraction (20th and 21st centuries)

Interest in interdisciplinary issues, including in the applied arts

Several years of curatorial experience in a museum and/or arts foundation

Proven experience in museum-, exhibitions-, publication-, budget- and project management

Strategic and creative thinking, resilience and commitment

Very good written expression in German

Strong communication, interpersonal and team skills

Confident handling of IT systems, databases and digital media

Proficient in spoken and written English

Driver‘s license

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Please send your detailed application documents (letter, CV, education and work certificates, earliest possible starting date) in a PDF document exclusively by e-mail to:

info@adolf-luther-stiftung.com

Application deadline is September 7, 2025

For further information regarding the position, please contact Dr. Magdalena Broska, Adolf Luther Foundation, Tel.: 02151/27913, or Katia Baudin, Director of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Tel.: 02151/97558 111.

We look forward to receiving your application.

The Board of the Adolf Luther Foundation

Opening: Friday, 16.05.2025, 7 pm

The exhibition Adolf Luther. Seeing is beautiful marks the beginning of a close and long-term collaboration between the Kunstmuseen Krefeld and the Adolf Luther Foundation. The aim of the cooperation is to raise Krefeld’s profile as a central location for Concrete Art and to secure Adolf Luther’s artistic legacy in Krefeld by linking the two institutions. The exhibition at the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum marks the start. It combines important works by Luther with works by other artists from the foundation’s collection and also surprises visitors with lesser-known aspects and projects by the Krefeld-born artist.

Further information can also be found on the homepage of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld.

Photo: Dirk Rose

„With Lucio Fontana: Expectation, the Von der Heydt-Museum brings Fontana’s complex oeuvre to life in all its many facets: from figurative to conceptual works, from ceramics to spatial installations. Around 100 works from the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milan, as well as from public and private collections provide an insight into the astonishingly experimental and daring work. […]

One chapter of the exhibition is dedicated to the exchange between Fontana and a younger generation of artists who took up his ideas and visions of the future: Internationally, Piero Manzoni and Yves Klein should be mentioned, and for the Rhineland, ZERO artists such as Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Günther Uecker [and Adolf Luther] in particular. […]“ – Announcement of the exhibition

Further information on the museum’s website.

The exhibition includes the object Concetto Spaziale, 1965 by Lucio Fontana, Adolf Luther Foundation Collection.

“Timeless Silver focuses on the material advantages, versatility and visual properties of the fascinating metal silver […] Beyond the tradition and the limits of the valuable material, contemporary artists are concerned with the visual dissolution of material and light, reflections, mirroring and monochromy with their objects.” – Exhibition brochure Timeless Silver

Participating artists among others:
Rolf Poellet, Dong-hyun Kim, Franz Anton Lang, Adolph Luther, Heinz Mack, Claudia Wieser

Further insights into the exhibition can be found on the museum’s website
An exhibition catalog is also available from the museum

Photo:
Adolf Luther, Hanging Lens, 1974
In the background: Rolf Poellet, Bossa Nova Mystery, 2022, room installation
© Rolf Poellet

On the occasion of the exhibition “Adolf Luther – Light. Work and Collection” at the Museum unter Tage, Bochum, the article ‘Wer hier raucht, hat mehr vom Licht’ by Georg Imdahl appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 02.02.2023.

Read the entire article here

The exhibition combines painting, sculpture, photography, science and technology. A kaleidoscopic journey on the border between art and science in a city, Padua, where these two worlds have always been intertwined, from Galileo to the school of perceptual psychology and the birth of Gruppo N, an artistic-cultural avant-garde collective from Padua.

On display are works by Alberto Biasi, Ennio Chiggio, Toni Costa, Edoardo Landi, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Albers, Max Bill, Adolf Luther and others.

Photo: Adolf Luther, Curved Mirror Object, 1968, © Florian Monheim

The exhibition illustrates Luther’s search for new, more open forms of work and expression in contrast to traditional painting. With a representative cross-section of his oeuvre and numerous key works, the artist’s working methods and world of thought are vividly illustrated.

The presentation is complemented by works from the collection assembled by Adolf Luther, including works by Pol Bury, Christo, Marcel Duchamp, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Erich Reusch, Günther Uecker and others.

OPENING October 23, 2022
11 a.m. | Welcome
Dr. Eva Wruck (Curator Situation Kunst Foundation)

Afterwards | Talk: Adolf Luther, Max Imdahl and the New Concrete Art
Dr. Silke von Berswordt-Wallrabe (Chairwoman of the Situation Kunst Foundation) with Dr. Magdalena Broska (Director of the Adolf Luther Foundation)

From 13:30, every hour | Impulse tours through the exhibition

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM (among others)
November 20, 2022, 12 noon | Museum unter Tage, foyer
Dr. Magdalena Broska in conversation with Dr. Christiane Hoffmanns (cultural journalist)

Further dates can be found online.

Photo:
Adolf Luther in his studio in Krefeld, 1970s

© Archive Adolf Luther Foundation

The Kunstmuseen Krefeld will shed new light on the topicality of Adolf Luther’s artistic approach with a solo exhibition at Haus Esters. The show emphasizes how the Krefeld artist uses his objects and architectural integrations to create experiential spaces in which the viewer plays a central role. Luther’s artworks are instruments for perceiving a constantly changing reality. The exhibition explores scientific findings and Enlightenment ideas as impulses for Luther’s artistic work. It is being created in cooperation with the Adolf Luther Foundation.
Curators: Katia Baudin and Dr. Magdalena Broska, artistic directors, Adolf Luther Foundation, Krefeld

HLHE DIALOG
The exhibition is part of the series of dialogs between Haus Lange and Haus Esters: HLHE Dialog. The artists Adolf Luther and Julio Le Parc meet under the title Interactive Spaces of Experience.

Photo:
Katia Baudin (Kunstmuseen Krefeld) & Magdalena Broska (Adolf Luther Foundation) in: Adolf Luther, Focusing Room, 1968
© Andreas Bischof

This monograph traces the development of this extraordinary artist, who transcended the traditional boundaries of art genres early on and is an inspiration and role model for many contemporary artists. Last but not least, Luther’s collection, which ranges from Beuys to Ad Reinhardt, bears witness to an unconventionally open spirit that needs to be rediscovered time and again. This volume closes gaps in the research and dares to reassess the artistic oeuvre.

Authors: Magdalena Broska, Silke von Berswordt-Wallrabe, Markus Heinzelmann
Hardcover edition, format 28 x 31 cm, 400 pages, cloth binding, texts in German and English, 340 illustrations in color

Retail price: 69 euros + 10 euros shipping
Order via the Adolf Luther Foundation

Editors: Magdalena Broska, Silke von Bers­wordt-Wall­rabe, Markus Hein­zel­mann im Hirmer Verlag Köln
ISBN-Nr. 978-3-7774-3914-3

E-Mail:
info@adolf-luther-stiftung.com

A comprehensive solo exhibition on Adolf Luther and his collection in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Adolf Luther Foundation Krefeld.
Here you can find a film about the exhibition “Glimpses of light – Adolf Luther and artist friends”from the mpk.

Photo: Adolf Luther, Spherical concave mirror object, 1979