4 June – 2 September 2007
Filmmuseum Potsdam’s collections comprise several items one wouldn’t expect to find there: The museum houses an art collection with works by renowned artists such as Velásquez, El Greco, Goya, van Gogh, Kollwitz, and Barlach. These paintings and sculptures were created in one of the GDR’s biggest legal and well-known studios producing counterfeit pieces of art: DEFA’s painters’ workshop. Replicating a Rembrandt, Zille, or Picasso for the set of a DEFA or television film was no problem – the painters were familiar with the styles of numerous artists. Particularly for the shooting of biographical films on specific artists, the work of these painters was indispensable as the camera usually shows pieces of art in great detail in such films. The exhibition “Masterpieces from Filmmuseum Potsdam’s Gallery” gave an impression of this work.