Art History 101 - The New Leipzig School

Over the course of the past couple years, it has occasionally seemed to me as if every other day's arts news glowingly mentioned the painters of the "New Leipzig School" (or, if the reporter was writing like a true insider, the "Neue Leipziger Schule" or the "YGAs" [Young German Artists; yes, this is an eerily similar acronym, Young British Artists fans]). Big, exciting words have been written about this group and top contemporary collectors have been jetting in and out of Leipzig to snap up barely dry canvases from the lot. Wherever their work appears adoring crowds follow, and the artists themselves are described with words usually reserved for rock stars. Heady stuff, all of this.

Now, I am nothing if not not an art insider, and so couldn't help but wonder - after reading the twentieth or so superlative adjective-laden literary gush - who ARE these guys? (P.S. They really are, to a man, all "guys.") Their work -- which I enjoy -- sometimes reminds me of Edward Hopper Shakes Hands with Surrealism, but what is it based on? Life after the downfall of socialism in the former DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik)? Reconciling the old and the new after German Reunification? What is the common thread, here? Does a common thread even exist? Is this New Leipzig phenomenon standalone marketing genius? Or were these painters simply all in the right place at the right time to be discovered and embraced?

As things turn out, I believe the correct answer to this multiple question quiz is "All of the above." I am also completely impressed by these artists' technical skills, as they are all thoroughly grounded in those crucial studies (composition, color theory, perspective and drawing, drawing, drawing) that seem to have fallen by the wayside in some other art schools that I could (but will not) name. You may read both the basic facts on and some observations about the YGAs in the article Art History 101 - The New Leipzig School.

• See also the special exhibition gallery Life After Death: New Leipzig Paintings from the Rubell Family Collection.

Image credit:

Christoph Ruckhäberle (German, b.1972)
Theater, 2003
Oil on canvas
74 3/4 x 110 1/4 in.
The Rubell Family Collection
© Christoph Ruckhäberle