Image: MKM Museum Küppersmühle, Duisburg
The MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst in Duisburg is presenting ‘Rolf-Gunter Dienst – Tagebuch der Bilder. Ein Blick in den Nachlass’, an exhibition bringing together more than 100 paintings, graphic works and other materials from the artist’s estate. On view in the museum’s Oberlichtsaal, the exhibition covers works made between 1960 and 2014 and runs from 23 April through 20 September 2026.
Dienst, who was born in Kiel in 1942 and died in Baden-Baden in 2016, worked across painting, graphics, writing and publishing. He also collected art and literature. The presentation focuses on the breadth of this activity while offering an overview of an estate that has been managed by the MKM Stiftung since 2022.
The exhibition reflects the close relationship between Dienst’s visual and literary practices. According to the museum, he remained active as both an artist and writer throughout his life, and his works frequently connect the two fields. One example is his early concept of the “Momentetagebuch”, or moment diary: Dienst painted at least one picture every day until the end of his life.
The selection spans several decades of his production, allowing visitors to trace changes across his artistic development. The museum describes his life’s work as reflecting the postmodern artistic currents of his period. Among the works identified in the exhibition material is ‘Memoiren eines Leitartiklers’ from 1962, an oil painting on canvas, as well as an untitled 1966 acrylic painting measuring 120 by 90 centimetres.
Dienst’s career also included guest professorships, scholarships and prizes. The museum states that these activities took him to places including Paris, Rome, Australia and Japan. His international experience forms part of the context for a practice that combined sustained daily production with engagement in broader debates around art and writing.
The artist died shortly before the opening of a major solo exhibition at the Museum Küppersmühle, according to the institution’s exhibition text. The current presentation instead takes the form of an estate-focused survey, assembling works from across Dienst’s career in the Oberlichtsaal of the Duisburg museum until 20 September 2026.
