Berlin is showcasing a collection of over 250 works from New York's Museum of Modern Art at the Martin Gropius-Bau. The renowned exhibition hall is celebrating its 30th anniversary with the contemporary collection, described as "risk-taking" by one of the project's leaders.

The exhibit - titled "Kompass" - features selected pieces from the late 1950s to present of the Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection. Young and renowned artists alike have contributed to the collection, including David Hockney, Sherrie Levine, Paul McCarthy, Joseph Beuys and Cy Twombly.

"There are drawings by people who may have been previously overlooked," said Harvey S Shipley Miller, trustee of the Judith Rothschild Foundation, which donated the collection to MoMA in 2005. "My hope is that these will sit through and rise as the artists mature."

Back to the future

A common theme amongst the pieces is the joy of experimenting with various materials, such as gunpowder, body fluids, soil, photographs and newspaper clippings.

The collection was a "time capsule" which marked the "coming of age of a major medium," according to Miller.

"Drawing is no longer a secondary medium. At the turn of this century, drawing has become as important to an artist as his painting, his video or his sculpture," he said. "The market exploded while we were doing this," he added. "There's a drawing upstairs that would now sell for $2 million. We didn't pay that of course."

The last time art from MoMA was on display in the German capital was in 2004, drawing over one million visitors at the time.

"Kompass" opened on March 11 and will run until May 29, 2011.

Author: Christian Nathler (dpa, EPD)
Editor: Rob Turner