Faced with Peter Herrmann's paintings we can rediscover a sense of wonder, discover what is fascinating in urban scenes, everyday objects and routine events, and trace the sometimes unspectacular aspects of human existence. The painter, born near Zittau in 1937, who now lives in Berlin, does not shy away from taking on the tradition of the great masters of art, from Paolo Uccello to Caspar David Friedrich, or to Paul Cezanne. Moreover, the effect of his paintings is underscored by an ironic, cryptic humor. This catalogue is the first to extensively introduce the oeuvre of Peter Herrmann. It provides insights into early work phases and retraces the artist's biography in close connection to his works. The main focus of the book is placed on works Herrmann created starting in 2000. In a sumptuous series of images the reader encounters a type of painting dominated by bright, strong tones and fields of color. In their reduction of what is represented and their nonchalance, the works provide answers and ask questions in equal measure.

The Dresden artist Max Uhlig (b. 1937) created one of the greatest window cycles of contemporary art for the Gothic Church of Saint John in Magdeburg. Vines and coloured foliage together with lines in expressive rhythms which are a revelation in their incisiveness, fill a window area of some 350 square metres with colours and immerse the interior of the church in light. The abstract cycle of six windows in colour and seven in black and white, each 13 metres high, tells of the rebirth of the former parish church in the heart of Magdeburg, destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt after 1992. The dark earth tones and the luminous yellows and blues interspersed with fiery reds contrast with the vines climbing upwards in the choir windows, which are depicted entirely in black. Max Uhlig is one of the last representatives of plein-air painting in modern art and shows in this magnificent volume about his latest masterpiece that he is at the very height of our times. Languages: English and German