Beautiful Anarchy

Johan Thorn Prikker and His Time

Sun, May 17, 2026–Tue, Aug 31, 2027

Kaiser Wilhelm Museum

Between socially engaged “artistic labor” and spiritual exploration, between ornament and abstraction — Johan Thorn Prikker (1868–1932) stands as one of the most influential artists of the 1910s and 1920s in the Rhineland. His vision united painting, applied arts, and architecture into a total work of art. Trained in the Netherlands, Thorn Prikker came to Krefeld in 1904 and later taught in Düsseldorf and Cologne.

The Kunstmuseen Krefeld hold the world’s most extensive collection of Thorn Prikker’s work — around one thousand pieces, including completed stained-glass windows, posters, paintings, and designs for textiles, murals, and mosaics. For the first time since the 1960s, this exceptional collection will be presented in a comprehensive exhibition that situates the artist’s multifaceted oeuvre within the museum’s holdings. Highlights include monumental designs for mosaics and stained-glass windows created for the groundbreaking Düsseldorf exhibition GeSoLei (1926).