The painting “Guten Tag” from the gallery in the Palace of the Republic
- Object
- Wolfgang Mattheuer
- Berlin (Ost)
- 1975
This work of art used to hang in the gallery of paintings in the main foyer of the East German Palace of the Republic, which opened at this site in 1976. Under the title “Are Communists Allowed to Dream?” the sixteen paintings by established artists reflected the more liberal climate in East German cultural policy in those years. Wolfgang Mattheuer’s painting Guten Tag (Good Day) can be interpreted as criticism of political developments. But it would be misleading to view his depiction of an industrial city brutally engulfing the countryside solely in the context of East Germany. Rather, the picture he created stood for similar developments in many places and is still relevant today.