Michael SchmidtTriptychon II (from Waffenruhe), 1985-1987

gelatin silver print, framed by the artist, 3 photographs

49.3 x 39 cm (left + right panel), 49.9 x 59.8 cm (middle panel)

About the artist

(1945–2014) occupies a unique position in contemporary German photography and internationally. Born in Berlin and with no formal training in photography, he discovered the medium as a mode of artistic expression in the mid-1960s. For each of his themes he developed his own approach to reality. His oeuvre owing to continual exploration and innovation has been seminal for a younger generation of photographers. Michael Schmidt was born in 1945 in Berlin, where he died in 2014. In 1976, Michael Schmidt founded the Werkstatt für Fotografie at VHS Berlin-Kreuzberg, which became a major forum for international discussions on photography in (West) Berlin. His epic series “Waffenruhe” (Ceasefire) has been exhibited in 1987 at Berlinische Galerie and in 1988 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 1996 “Ein-heit” was shown for the first time at MoMA, New York under its English title U-ni-ty. Schmidt was the first German photographer to have a solo-exhibition at MoMA during his lifetime. In the same year “Ein-heit” was presented at Germany at Sprengel Museum Hanover. In 1995 a first survey exhibition of his work was on view at Museum Folkwang Essen. In 2010 Haus der Kunst Munich presented his comprehensive survey exhibition “Grey as Colour. Photographs since 2009”. He participated in the 55th Venice Biennial in 2013, and the Berlin Biennial in 2006 and 2010. In 2014 the artist was awarded with the Prix Pictet for “Lebensmittel”. The Prix Pictet exhibition "Consumption" was on view at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and then travelled extensively internationally. In 2016/2017 a joint exhibition project on “Werkstatt für Fotografie” was on view at Museum Folkwang, Essen, C/O Berlin and Sprengel Museum, Hannover. His retrospektive, offering a complete overview of his oeuvre from 1965 to 2014, was on view at Albertina Vienna (2022), Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Jeu de Paume, Paris (both 2021) and Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2020). It was accompanied by a comprehensive surevy catalogue published by Koenig Books with essays by Ute Eskildsen, Janos Frecot, Peter Galassi, Heinz Liesbrock and Thomas Weski. The Foundation for Photography and Media Art with the Michael Schmidt Archive was founded in 1999, and since the artist’s death is organizing and preserving the artist’s archive (www.archivmichaelschmidt.de). In 2024 the Michael Schmidt Archive was transferred to the Museum Folkwang, Essen on permanent loan.

About the artist

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