Estate of Timm Rautert goes to the Folkwang Museum Essen

The internationally renowned photographer Timm Rautert donates his complete works to Museum Folkwang
Essen, November 7, 2025 – Museum Folkwang is receiving the preliminary bequest of the internationally renowned photographer Timm Rautert. The donation comprises nearly the entire oeuvre of the artist, who was born in West Prussia (today Tuchola, Poland), and represents one of the most multifaceted photographic legacies in Germany.

The Timm Rautert Archive comprises around 9,000 prints—mostly organized in series and extensive portfolios—well over 50,000 slides, as well as spatial and video installations dating from the 1960s to the present day. In addition, the artist’s archive includes all negatives, including 6,500 contact sheets, collected publications, books, correspondence, working materials, exhibition documentation, and other historical documents. The preliminary bequest was transferred to the museum over the course of 2025 and will be catalogued there to facilitate further research into Rautert’s work.