Carlfriedrich Claus Archiv - Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz

Carlfriedrich Claus (1930-1998) is considered a co-founder of visual poetry and is highly regarded internationally today. He created small-format, filigree works on tracing paper, which he densely marked and inscribed on both sides so that the lines form networks and overlays and suggest figures or landscapes.

During his lifetime, the artist had already stipulated that his estate should find a permanent home in the Chemnitz Art Collections. In 1999, entrepreneurs from Chemnitz laid the foundations for the establishment of the Carlfriedrich Claus Archive Foundation. With the fulfilment of this legacy, the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz have been enriched by a magnificent complex of contemporary art. The Carlfriedrich Claus Archive preserves 575 hand drawings and around 850 prints and state prints by the artist as well as works by artists who were friends of Carlfriedrich Claus. The acoustic work is available on 15 reel-to-reel tapes and 267 audio cassettes. Manuscripts, diaries, notebooks, photographic prints and negatives, a newspaper archive and personal documents provide an insight into the artist's thoughts and biography. The estate also contains more than 22,000 letters. An important addition to the artist's oeuvre is his library with around 10,000 volumes, including rare dedication copies and first editions.

The archive can only be used by prior appointment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10am-12pm and 1pm-6pm.

The Carlfriedrich Claus Archive Foundation of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, hold the utilisation rights to Carlfriedrich Claus. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about the utilisation rights.