This is a significant part of the collection of the museum. Even before the Second World War, Cologne collector Haubrih Josef (Josef Haubrich) bought several works by Russian avant-garde Kandinsky, Yavlensky and Chagall, whose contemporary he was. And in the seventies of last century, Peter and Irene Ludwig (Peter & Irene Ludwig) part of his collection was given to the museum, and some have given long-term storage.
Together with his wife, Peter Ludwig studied history at the University of the Arts. Masters work, he wrote about Picasso. After his marriage began to work in the company for the production of chocolate, owned by his wife's family, and in the late 60-ies already become the head of the firm, which produced chocolate brands Trumpf, Lindt, Mauxion. In the 70's and 80's, the company, renamed the Ludwig Schokolade, was one of the leading companies in Germany.
The collector's number one
Peter Ludwig harbored a genuine passion for collecting art of all kinds, he collected and medieval manuscripts, the art of Polynesia and Oceania, china. But the preference to American Pop Art and the Russian avant-garde.
In the 70's and 80's Peter Ludwig was a frequent visitor to East Germany and the USSR with business visits. He supplied the chocolate for the army of the GDR and sought to obtain a concession for the manufacture of chocolate in the USSR. Louis maintained his contacts at the highest level and had the opportunity to buy works of Russian avant-garde, around which in the seventies there was no boom. He managed to be in this area collector number one in the world. His collection was the largest collection in private hands. But Peter Ludwig has worked closely with various museums, gave them the masterpieces from the collection. Today, working from his collection are in the 19 museums in five countries.
He died July 22, 1996. Author: Andrey Gorokhov
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,, 4321840,00. Html
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Peter Ludwig (July 9, 1925, Koblenz, Germany - July 22, 1996, Aachen, Germany) - German industrialist, philanthropist, the largest collector of antiquity and the Christian Middle Ages, the art of pre-Columbian America, Africa, India, China, Baroque and Rococo art XX century, the largest private collector of Picasso. Biography
Peter Ludwig was one of the symbols of the postwar revival of Germany. In 1951 he headed the family confectionery business, and soon made a fortune and fame. Peter Ludwig earned money all my life spent on the acquisition of works of art.
In 1957, Ludwig began his collaboration with the Museum of Cologne and Aachen Shnyutgena Museum Zyurmondta, became chairman of Union of Museums in Aachen. In 1969, Ludwig was elected to the board of trustees Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, and in 1976 he became a board member of the museum.
In the same year, Peter and Irene Ludwig in Cologne gave about 300 works of contemporary art (including the Russian avant-garde), and this collection formed the basis of the first Museum Ludwig.
In 1977 the museum was opened Zyurmondta-Ludwig in Aachen.
In Cologne, the project was built O. Ungersa Museum Ludwig.
In subsequent years, in Germany appeared Institute of Art Ludwig in Oberhausen (1983), Art Ludwig in Saarlouis (1989), the Ludwig Forum in Aachen (1991) and the Ludwig Museum in Koblenz (1992).
Part of his collection P. Ludwig donated to the Russian Museum.