The Deutsche bank Collection in New York The interplay of the worlds of art and work The hustle and bustle of New York's Wall Street is a byword even to those who have never had an opportunity of visiting this metropolis on the Hudson River. Innumerable movies have created the image of a street pulsating with life, an image that we automatically associate with the world's most famous stock exchange in the city that never sleeps. As one enters the main headquarters of the Deutsche Bank in New York, which in 2004 moved from midtown Manhattan to its new home on Wall Street, one is therefore startled by the quiet, relaxed atmosphere of the foyer. Only Gerhard Richter's large format painting Abstract Picture—Faust (1981) that immediately draws attention to itself in the reception hall, seems to reflect the city's reputation as a place humming with vitality. Painting by Georg Richter in the foyer of the Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, New York © Deutsche Bank Collection The stridently coloured layers of paint appear to cascade down over each other, disappearing into the background or spilling in the form of dynamic strands of colour into the foreground. As if through an opened window, one is afforded a glance into a cosmos replete with energy and movement, reflecting the vibrant energy of this 47-story building humming with activity. In his series of Abstract Pictures, which he began in 1976 and to which he constantly returns, Richter seeks for analogies to the tangible representation of reality in his figurative works. "Pictures are the better, the more beautifully, intelligently, crazily and extremely, the more concretely and incomprehensively they create images of this impenetrable reality." On the occasion of his seventieth birthday in 2002, the German artist was honoured with a comprehensive retrospective of his work in the New York Museum of Modern Art. Abstract Picture—Faust, this outstanding work of Richter's, has been given a place of honour here in the Deutsche Bank's Wall Street headquarters. Works by James Nares, conference room, Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, New York © Deutsche Bank Collection Considering the complexity of the relationships that arise from the "real" interplay of the worlds of art and work, it is thus no wonder that Liz Christensen - curator of the Deutsche Bank Collection in New York since 1994—describes the artistic concept for the skyscraper, built in 1989, as a "real challenge." Acquired by the Deutsche Bank in 2001 in order to house its offices—scattered throughout downtown Manhattan—under one roof, the building's interior was completely renovated for the presentation of works from the bank's collection. Together with Dr. Ariane Grigoteit and Friedhelm Hütte, the directors of Deutsche Bank Art, the New York team set out to create "a very attractive location... in which immediately on entering the building the visitor receives an impression of the truly outstanding nature of the bank's collection." Prints by Andy Warhol, 47th floor, reception, Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, New York © Deutsche Bank Collection Following this concept, the works are arranged on each floor according to themes or artistic relationships, allowing the visitor passing through the building to experience the New York collection as a "history in miniature" of contemporary art on both sides of the Atlantic. This is especially clear in the entrance areas and in the hallways of each floor, where the works of the various artists displayed engage in a form of cross-cultural dialogue. The main focus of the collection is on works on paper. Liz Christensen describes its presentation thus: "On the 46th floor, where the theme is 'form and abstraction', Blinky Palermo confronts James Nares, and Keith Haring is juxtaposed with works by Nina Bovasso. We can thus see how artists from different generations, countries and backgrounds have approached the task of setting down abstract figures on paper." Lee Krasner. Twenty-Four Hours Dark, 20th floor, conference room, Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, New York © Deutsche Bank Collection While the design of some floors is extremely minimalistic, others such as the 20th are furnished in elaborate wood panelling, as are the rooms on the executive floors. Here stands the only sculpture in the New York collection: Louise Nevelson's Entwurf für Sonnenscheibe / Mondschatten V (Design for sun disc / moon shadow V, 1976-78). In this assemblage the artist combines black boards and other pieces of wood to create the impression of a sacred shrine. Watercolour by William Sommer, 20th floor, conference room, Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, New York © Deutsche Bank Collection On the 20th floor, the Three Dancing Figures, a group of watercolours created in 1923 by the artist William Sommer, hang opposite Lee Krasner's Twenty-Four Hours Dark series from 1981. Another rare work graces the room: a gouache by Eva Hesse, created in the sixties under the influence of minimalism and pop art—a work that defies all categorisation. Its conceptual idiosyncrasy appears all the more fascinating when set next to the analytical, numerical world of Alfred Jensen's Second Version of 5760 Days: 360 = 16 Solar Years. This work, executed in oils on paper in 1977, is a part of the artist's wide-ranging study of numerical systems, which he links to Goethe's theory of colour and the writings of Leonardo da Vinci. Especially in the context of a bank, this contrasting pair of works inevitably provokes the interest of staff members, and Liz Christensen frequently finds herself playing the role of mediator: "My function is to bridge the gap between contemporary art—which is a difficult and sometimes touchy subject—and the 'regular folk' who work here, be they staff members or visitors." The frequently scheduled talks with artists whose works are exhibited here, which are also attended by visitors to the building, allow the philosophy behind the collection to be communicated to the general public. Thus responses to the art exhibited here are not limited just to staff members. The two floors of conference rooms have as their theme 'internationality', offering both customers and visitors the opportunity to experience the collection's breadth and diversity. Exhibited here are works by artists from Latin America, Asia, and Africa, including Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Gunther Gerzso, Alioune Ba, Nam June Paik, and Hiroshi Sugimoto. The selection also reflects the bank's global orientation. Imi Knoebel, trading floors, Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, New York © Deutsche Bank Collection The elegance and seclusion of the 20th floor yields on the trading floors lower down to an atmosphere of hectic turmoil. Endless rows of monitors and LED displays dominate the trading rooms, in which stock market trading is conducted in a frenzy of activity. In the midst of this activity, Imi Knoebel's Messerschnitt (knife-cut) series radiates a placid composure. Strewn across the white paper like coloured snippets, the geometrical forms in the works appear to fall quite by chance into a preordained harmony. Having finished their visit to the Deutsche Bank's New York collection, visitors are once again confronted in the lobby by Gerhard Richter's Abstract Picture. This dynamic painting prepares them to re-enter the hurly-burly of Wall Street that embraces them on leaving the building. » back to overview