Sisters & Brothers
500 Years of Siblings in Art

We all grew up in families and even when we leave them as adolescents, we usually remain in contact with our original family. What we experience in our families, whether we are only children or have siblings, has an impact on our entire lives. Surprisingly, the longest and, more often than not, most intense relationship in a person’s life – the sibling relationship – has been little researched to date and has never been the subject of an exhibition.

Whether twins, siblings, step-siblings or siblings in spirit, those of us who grow up with others are able to deal with conflict and usually practise solicitude and solidarity at an early age – or in other words, we acquire important key skills for human coexistence.

This is the first comprehensive exhibition to document the multifaceted subject of sibling relationships in the visual arts featuring more than 100 works. The exhibition devised by the Kunsthalle Tübingen is extended in Linz to include numerous works from the Lentos and Nordico collections, and will present not only some of the very earliest photographs but also exemplary fairy tale books by the Brothers Grimm in which the subject of siblings is very much in evidence. From the perspective of cultural history, the paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, objects and videos on display illustrate the changes in the portrayal of siblings from the 16th century to the present day by means of a chronological timeline.

Curator and Project Idea:
Nicole Fritz, Kunsthalle Tübingen
Co-Curator Lentos: Elisabeth Nowak-Thaller