2009 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

The exhibition “Weltsichten. Meisterwerke
der Zeichnung, Graphik und
Photographie” (World Views. Masterpieces
of Drawing, Graphic Art and Photography)
was held in 2004 to celebrate the opening
of the new premises for the Kupferstich-
Kabinett in the Residenzschloss.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Holler speaking in the Small
Courtyard during the opening ceremony for the
“Carl Gustav Carus” exhibition on 25 th June 2009.
It can probably be said that Holler’s romance is one that is
both filled with academic achievement and true to life,
and in which mutual give and take elevated him over the
years into a special position which was gratefully accepted
by many but was probably also feared by some. Rarely, very
rarely, was he to be seen in a dark suit. He played his representational
role in the form of sincere good will, which
– depending on the official occasion and the degree of
familiarity – was expressed as a genuine smile and a handshake
or as a warm embrace. His dignity emanates from
the naturalness with which he offers his counterpart a
certain distance without demanding it. His research,
knowledge and administration are not bloodless or bureaucratic
but live from and in the world. When the German
section of the Association internationale des critiques
d’art (AICA), the International Art Critics Association, voted
the Kupferstich-Kabinett Museum of the Year in 2008,
Holler’s leadership style was clearly reflected in the reasons
given for this choice, since he had succeeded in fulfilling
the “social” duty of the museum to be a place that conveys
knowledge through visual demonstration and also provides
aesthetic enjoyment.
For nearly two decades Wolfgang Holler lived and taught
the enjoyment of knowledge through his charisma, perseverance
and nonchalant consistency. This resulted in high
standards and achievements. To list them would be to
reduce the fullness of a living personality to a court report.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Holler in conversation
with Prof. Dr. Bernhard Maaz
After all, his publications cover many periods of art history;
the exhibitions for which he was responsible or which
he personally curated, both for Dresden and in cooperative
international projects, encompass ancient art and span
the centuries down to contemporary works. In addition,
he has been involved in far-reaching work on cultural
policy.
Wolfgang Holler has gone to Weimar – to him, the great
Goethe – as Director-General and as a learner. Will it be his
secondary or his primary residence? Time will clarify which
is to be dominant. In any case, he will remain closely associated
with Dresden – a promise that comforts his many
friends.
He has a new and immense task to shoulder. The mighty
complex that is the Klassik Stiftung Weimar encompasses
more than twenty mainly small but very prestigious museum
institutions, which are of great cultural importance.
Nevertheless, Weimar has remained a world-ranking town
of limited territorial size, readily comprehensible to the
visitor, a town that can be embraced: “For this is not a place
where anyone seeks to breathlessly rush ahead in order to
snatch a wreath away from you.” Irrespective of any poetic
enhancement, Wolfgang Holler has committed himself
to the town right from the start, just as he committed
himself to Dresden and continues to do so. He wishes to
be approachable to all who seek and need him and to be
“interwoven” with knowledge and thought.
33