Johanna and Friedrich Gräfling

A true collector does not only ‘display’ their art, they live with it… Art is integrated into every aspect of their life, and they demonstrate their patronage through many different approaches.

Johanna with her husband Friedrich Gräfling
Image from collectors agenda

I have known Johanna and Friedrich Gräfling for many years – you could say we go way back. I first met Johanna when we were both attending the Sotheby’s Institute. She always had impeccable style and has said her husband was more into fashion than she was.

Johanna(left)and Luning
Hanging on the walls are paintings by Grace Weaver of the Gräflings as newlyweds

They both live and breathe art, and their collection reflects this – it is, in essence, an artistic documentation of themselves. Every detail in their lives is interwoven with art and a style that focuses more on the fictional than reality. Their wedding – the origin of their dynamic partnership and a prelude for what was to come – was an artistic affair. Alicja Kwade designed their engagement ring, and Grace Weaver painted the couple at their wedding. Michael Sailstorfer also created a new work based on the guests on the dancefloor. They even had Christian Jankowski shoot a video piece on the day, for which he deployed a Dustin Hoffman lookalike amongst the wedding guests. Yves Scherer created a room installation in the dinner tent, arranging the room decor, flowers, sound, staff uniforms, and even the menu. Their wedding was, in essence, a group show in itself.

SALON KENNEDY
Image from Architectural Digest

At every point, they seem to be ahead of the curve, anticipating what and who will be the next big thing. They were among the first to work with German artist Gregor Hildebrandt, providing him with their first project space, the slaughterhouse, to curate a show using works from their collection. The slaughterhouse was the Gräflings’ first experimental project space, opened in a disused former slaughterhouse in 2010 in Friedrich’s hometown, Aschaffenburg. Once a year, they would invite a different artist from their collection, or indeed themselves, to curate. This was long before Hildebrandt became as well known as he is today, with exhibitions at Perrotin, Wentrup, and Almine Rech. For the exhibition, Hildebrandt created a curtain of magnetic tape to frame the works of art. It was the first time in his career he had experimented with such a technique, but it soon became commonplace in his work.

Works by Andy Warhol, Paul Czerlizki and Friedrich Kunath(far left)
Yves schemer(top right)
Analia Saban & Anne Hardy (bottom right)
Image from LARRY’S LIST

When you look at their collection as a whole, it’s easy to see that they have a natural talent for predicting market trends and spotting influences like Yves Scherer, Simon Fujiwara, Laure Prouvost, and Jorinde Voigt. Unlike others, they aren’t chasing financial investment returns but rather intend to grow with these artists. They tend to delve deeply into their selected talents, buying works from different periods of their careers. When I visited Johanna last year, she was just unwrapping a few new works from Grace Weaver – at this point, they own a great deal of her work from different periods in her career.

Artist Yves schemer’s exhibition at Salon Kennedy
Image from ART VIEWER

The couple has this old-school, romantic interaction with artists that influences every piece in their collection. The works speak of the couple’s personal stories, memories, and lives. The Alicja Kwade ring is a notable piece – a bordstein jewel in the form of a ring which Johanna always carries. The ring was a surprise from Friedrich. Alicja’s ‘Bordsteinjewelen’ are a series of works where she collects stones from the street and sends them to a gem cutter who treats the stones as raw diamonds, selecting the cut with the least amount of material loss. For this ring, Friedrich selected the stones from the gravel driveway of their house in London, and Alicja determined the rest. The ring itself is gold with a brown, diamond-like stone.

Kunstverein Wiesen, debut exhibition -Better than your neighbour! (2014)
Image from Kunstverein Wiesen website

The couple not only employs artists to work for them but also uses a more unusual collecting technique where they actually work for the artist. This began as a means to an end, allowing the couple to be a part of the art discourse itself and among the creators, while also adding to their collection. This truly takes the immersion (which so many collectors claim to have with their art and artists) to a new and unprecedented level. For the Gräflings, it was the perfect introduction to organising exhibitions and external collaborations.

The Gräflings‘ home in Germany
Image from Architectural Digest

Perhaps the most unusual outcome of one such agreement was allowing Michael Sailstorfer to destroy their house. What would be an incredibly traumatising event for many has been described by the couple as one of their happiest memories of collaboration with an artist. As part of the production of his video work ‘Tränen,’ Sailstorfer used a wrecking ball in the shape of a tear to demolish the couple’s house. The locals were completely unaware of the project and had no idea what to make of the artistic intention behind the concept or why a bulldozer couldn’t just be deployed for a quick result. This reaction quickly changed once the video gained attention, bringing recognition to the community and its inhabitants who soon became immensely proud of the piece. The work has been exhibited internationally in New York, London, Berlin, and Hamburg and is currently in the permanent collection of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt.

A house in Michael Sailstorfer’s piece -Tränen
Image from LARRY’S LIST

The Gräflings have said that the key word to describe their collection is time. It’s true; we can see that each piece in their collection or that they have been involved with is intrinsically related to understanding the human nature of attempting to grasp its tangibility but also the acceptance of its ephemerality and the inevitable passing of time. How time can translate into an artwork is an intriguing concept, often seen not only through the artistic intention behind an artwork but also through the history of interaction with it – whether it be physical or emotional.

Their collection is an immersive artistic process in its own right, documenting myriad aspects of their lives, spanning their love and indeed their loss (of their house).

The Gräflings‘ home in Germany
Image from Architectural Digest

I visited them last summer at Salon Kennedy, where they were living. The Salon functions like a salon of times gone by, the kind that would have displayed the great artists of the 19th century stacked up on high walls. The Gräflings’ salon facilitates the exchange of ideas, conversations, creations, collaborative events, and of course, exhibitions in a very similar vein.

At Salon Kennedy, I was particularly struck by a piece that left a strong impression on me. It was a work by Simon Fujiwara, a sculptural piece made from Angela Merkel’s makeup. The work consists purely of the powder that Merkel wears, which is produced especially for her to prevent the white casting that typically shows up in camera flashes. Many politicians and celebrities wear such a powder, but Merkel’s is unique as it makes her appear not to be wearing any makeup at all. Friedrich claims it comments on the perversion of the Western world, where an expensive and meticulously researched product is made entirely unique to Angela Merkel.

The Gräflings‘ home in Germany
Image from Architectural Digest

While the couple provides countless platforms for artists and even loans works from their collections to museum shows worldwide – such as the recent Laure Prouvost piece for the Venice Biennale – they do not refer to themselves as an institution.

Time will inevitably and unfortunately ‘fly by,’ but, like the Gräflings, we too can collect and preserve our own ‘time’ through art; by being immersed and involved and occasionally even lending a house. Perhaps, despite our inevitable fate, we can leave some traces of ourselves in art along the way.

-the end-

Text: Luning

Copyediting: Rosie