The Dr Werner Jerke Collection: A Selection

In Poland, too little is still said about private patronage, which is a very important complement to state support for culture. Important because it is created differently—unconstrained by the rules and codes under which state or local-government institutions operate. A public presentation of a collection, or part of one, introduces new beneficiaries: viewers. In speaking about collectors, it is also worth stating the obvious: artists are beneficiaries of collections. Artists often fail to recognise that collectors take a risk when they believe the works they purchase will stand the test of time. In assembling works of art, collectors create an image of their own. In the conversation published in the catalogue, Dr Werner Jerke states that ‘a collector is also an artist’.
Dr Werner Jerke’s collection now contains approximately 600 objects and is dominated by Polish art. The collector spent the first twenty-four years of his life in Poland. He has lived in Germany since 1981, but maintains close ties with the country of his childhood and youth. 

The Dr Werner Jerke Collection has not previously been presented in Poland. The works for the exhibition at Atlas Sztuki were selected by its curator, Professor Józef Robakowski. Dr Werner Jerke decided that his hitherto private collection would become public: the Jerke Museum, whose construction he is funding himself, is being built in Recklinghausen.

Alongside the aforementioned conversation with the collector, the catalogue includes an essay by Monika Małkowska written especially for the first Polish presentation of the Dr Werner Jerke Collection. I encourage you to read our publication.
I cordially invite you to Atlas Sztuki; it is worth seeing the treasures that Dr Werner Jerke has assembled over the years.