With the 67th Annual Exhibition, Emil Nolde’s art returned in 2023 to the Seebüll residential and studio house. After three years of preservation-led renovation, the house was used for the first time in its entirety as an exhibition venue.
The exhibition included around 130 works from different phases of Nolde’s career and various groups of works. Landscapes, seascapes, flower and figure paintings from Nolde’s world and homeland motifs were shown. Well-known major works were presented alongside works being shown in Seebüll for the first time. A particular focus was the expansion of the collection through a significant donation: Professor Hermann Gerlinger entrusted the Nolde Foundation Seebüll with all Emil Nolde works from his „Die Maler der Brücke“ collection, as well as a watercolour self-portrait by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. With a total of 43 works, this was the largest donation in the foundation’s history.
Thematically, the exhibition emphasised Nolde’s lifelong influence from his origins in the German-Danish border region. The deep horizon, dramatic cloud formations, dynamic seascapes, and intense flower paintings once again proved to be central characteristics of his work. At the same time, it became clear how much travel and international impressions influenced his artistic development.
The 2023 Annual Exhibition presented the concept of homeland not merely as a geographical place but as a personal and artistic point of reference. It invited visitors to follow Nolde’s perspective on world and origin and to reflect on the meaning of homeland in their own context.
