Erich Marx

I gladly accepted the offer to exhibit works from my collection at the National Museum in Szczecin. My private meetings, which I had and have in Poland, convinced me of the extremely vital culture of this country. In my collection, part of which can be seen at the exhibition, young Polish artists with their excellent works are also represented, which of course is also the result of my successful relations with the neighboring country, which is Poland.

Szczecin - formerly Stettin - is only an hour away by train or car from Berlin. However, I am convinced that a small number of Berliners are aware of this proximity, and yet Szczecin is inscribed in the history of Prussia, and thus the whole of Germany. I am all the more pleased that the Nationalgalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (National Gallery of State Museums in Berlin), operating under the patronage of Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) responded to the request of my Polish colleagues to borrow part of its collections.

The presented exhibition is a small slice of my collection. It documents the development of European and North American painting over the past thirty years. The exhibition will be presented at the headquarters of the former - located nearby port - city museum, built in the years 1911-1913 by Wilhelm Meyer-Schwartau. In this building, where a rich collection was once collected, partly belonging to the Szczecin bourgeoisie, our common history comes to life. Being a collector who entrusted his collection to a public museum, I am delighted to observe the commitment of the citizens of Szczecin in making this institution a rich place - presenting important works of art of all genres, especially since most of the earlier collections were lost as a result of terrible war disasters. I am extremely happy that thanks to my collection I can contribute, on the one hand, to the fact that younger works of painting will be presented here, and on the other hand, that the history of this building will be recalled as a museum where the collector's tradition is alive.

*Translation from German: Anna Maziarz
Text originally published in a catalogue published by the National Museum in Szczecin.