Villa Stuck, Munich, November 2013 – March 2014

Text: György Szegő
Photos: Villa Stuck

A Villa Stuck Szalonja, fotó: Jens Weber

In the fall of 2013 the Museum Villa Stuck presents – as an anniversary project – the exhibition „In the Temple of the Self: The Artist’s Residence as a Total Work of Art”. An exemplary artist’s residence, the Stuck villa is not just the supreme expression of “artist prince” Franz von Stuck’s life-as-total-work-of-art, but also his most splendid artwork. It is the culmination of his aspirations for a unification of all the arts. To Stuck himself the ancient-looking villa was both cosmos and personal pantheon, an embodiment of his self and a colourfully blazing source of inspiration for his work. Thus it epitomises everything that an artist’s residence can accomplish, transcending mere representation and image cultivation.
In this exhibition, the type of artist’s residence that is designed and built by the artist – or at least created with essential input from the artist – is examined in an international context. Some 20 examples bring to life the fascination such materialised artist’s fantasies continue to exert on people to this very day. For all their individuality, the selected examples in Europe and America epitomise ideas, styles and eras on the respective continents in the period from 1800 to 1948. Within international exchange, as well as within the competition between the individual artists, their residences play a significant role and each rank among their creators’ most important works.