Water, Clouds, Wind

Natural Phenomena in Works from the Würth Collection

28 February 2023 to 16 Februar 2025

Our jubilee exhibition at Forum Würth Rorschach focuses on the flowing, respectively fleeting elements that can be observed daily right in front of our door on the picturesque banks of Lake Constance. Water, clouds and wind in all their manifestations determine the climate of our planet Earth and are part of everyday life. They have fascinated people since time immemorial and been reflected in art. Water plays a key role in the history of mankind. Thanks to its multifarious forms (as spring water, streams, rivers, oceans, but also swamps, foam or a still lake), water has found rich expression in the formation of symbols, not only in art but also in mythology, religion, philosophy, and psychology. It is closely linked with concepts of creation and destruction, life and death, fertility, and transience, as well as with the subconscious.

The works in the Würth Collection contain a great diversity of references to these natural phenomena, strikingly rendered across all epochs and in various media. The arc ranges from the portrayal of the primal element of water as the origin of all life to the depiction of coastal and river landscapes since the 19th century to the creation of submarine worlds in the present day. Water’s different aggregate states, from solid to liquid to gas, are also reflected in the numerous artistic engagements with the element.

The wind interacts with water, be it in its mani-festation as a tornado or uncanny doldrums, as do the clouds, which are defined by their con-stantly changing shapes and their fleetingness. These phenomena, which are both soothing and ominous, inspire the myths, literary texts and artworks of all regions and epochs. These range from the ancient idea of God appearing in a cloud to the omniscient internet and its particu-lar clouds, which see everything and forget nothing.

Exhibition folder (Geman / English)