Thomas Ruff

Basic Data

Thomas Ruff is one of the most famous German photo artists of the contemporary. He received his education from Bernd and Hilla Becher at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf which had a profound influence on his artistic expression.

• Born: 10 February 1958
• Place of birth: Zell am Harmersbach, Baden-Württemberg
• Nationality: German
• Studied at: Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
• Teachers: Bernd und Hilla Becher
• Similar artists: Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky, Bernd und Hilla Becher, Thomas Demand, Wolfgang Tillmans
• Era: Contemporary art

Thomas Ruff lives and works in Düsseldorf where he held a position as lecturer at the Kunstakademie. His artworks are regurlary on display in exhibitions worldwide and are part of many private and public collections.

Thomas Ruff Art For Sale

Thomas Ruff nudes ez 14 1999 Poster Art Print Framed

Price: $249

Buy now

Thomas Ruff 13h 36m -35 Poster Poster Art Print Framed

Price: $288

Buy now

Thomas Ruff Substrat Poster Poster Art Print Framed

Price: $288

Buy now

Thomas Ruff cassini / zycles Prints Pigment Prints

Price: $5,770

Buy now

Thomas Ruff Print Lithograph O.T. Badezimmer Radisson SAS

Price: $1,923

Check availability

Thomas Ruff 3-D New York Bronx Photography Edition

Price: $1,154

Sold

Thomas Ruff prices

Biography

Thomas Ruff was born on February 10, 1958 in Zell am Harmersbach on the edge of the Black Forest. Immediately after graduating from high school, Ruff began studying at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In 1976 he was accepted into the class of Bernd and Hilla Becher, where Candida Höfer and Thomas Struth, among others, also studied. In 1993, the Villa Massimo scholarship took him to Rome. Two years later he exhibited together with Martin Honert and Katharina Fritsch in the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. From 2000 to 2006, Thomas Ruff was appointed professor at the State Academy in Düsseldorf and took over the class for "Free Art/Photography" as successor to Jeff Wall.

Characteristic of Ruff's work is the clear and simple visual language and the distanced conceptual approach or treatment of certain themes in series, which represents a similarity to Bernd and Hilla Becher's works. His photographs simultaneously examine traditional pictorial genres such as portraiture or landscape through the medium of photography and question the images' claim to truth. In the mid-1990s, Ruff placed the technical process of digital image production and editing in the focus of his photographs. In later works, Ruff picked up the camera himself less and less often and was primarily interested in the afterlife of the images in databases, scientific photo archives, and especially on the Internet. In doing so, he was primarily concerned with the technical conditions for the creation of the images.

Today, Thomas Ruff is considered one of the most important contemporary photo artists and is a significant representative of the Düsseldorf Photo School. He currently lives and works in Düsseldorf.

Exhibitions

Recent exhibitions

• 17.06.2023 – 07.01.2024 Exothermia. Semiotics Of Placement – Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya, Léon.
• 16.06.2023 – 31.12.2023 Nationalgalerie. Eine Sammlung Für Das 21. Jahrhundert – Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin.
• 20.05.2023 – 26.12.2023 Everybody Talks About the Weather – Fondazione Prada, Milan.
• 13.05.2023 – 25.02.2024 Sammlung mit losen enden 06: drei seiten des bildes – Kunsthaus NRW, Aachen

Past exhibitions

Single exhibitions

• 2021 Thomas Ruff: afterimages – WORKS 1989-2020 – National Taiwan Museum of Art, Taiwan
• 2020 Thomas Ruff – K21, Düsseldorf
• 2019 Transforming Photography - David Zwirner, Hong Kong
• 2019 Thomas Ruff – Photophilia – Muzeul De Arte Recenta, Bucharest
• 2018 THOMAS RUFF - Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf
• 2017 Thomas Ruff: Photographs 1979 - 2017 - Whitechapel Gallery, London
• 2016 Thomas Ruff press++ - David Zwirner, New York City
• 2015 Thomas Ruff. nature morte - Gagosian Gallery, London
• 2014 photograms – Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Dusseldorf
• 2013 Thomas Ruff. New Works – Galweie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf
• 2012 Thomas Ruff. Nudes – Gagosian Gallery, London
• 2011 MCA DNA – Museum of Contemorary Art, Chicago, Illinois
• 2010 Six Portraits by Thomas Ruff – Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
• 2009 Oberflächen, Tiefen – Kunsthalle, Vienna
• 2008 Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich
• 2007 Thomas Ruff. Das Sprengelprojekt – Sprengel Museum, Hanover
• 2006 Maschinen – Edition Schellmann, Munich
• 2005 Fotografien – Kunstverein Region Heinsberg
• 2004 Maschinen und Substrate – Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
• 2003 Nudes and Machines – Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover
• 2002 Interieurs – Portraits – Häuser – Museum Folkwang, Essen
• 2001 Fotografien 1979 bis heute – Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden
• 2000 Nudes – Galerie David Zwirner, New York; Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
• 1999 Thomas Ruff – Galerie Nelson, Paris
• 1998 Fuck Contemporary Art – Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
• 1997 Œuvres 1979-97 – Centre National de la Photographie, Paris
• 1996 Portraits, Houses, Stars, Night – Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
• 1994 Thomas Ruff - White Cube, London
• 1993 303 Gallery, New York
• 1992 Thomas Ruff - Mai 36 Galerie, Luzern
• 1991 Thomas Ruff – Bonner Kunstverein, Bon; Kunstverein Arnsberg; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Kunst +  Projekte, Sindelfingen
• 1990 Thomas Ruff – Stuart Regen Gallery, Los Angeles
• 1989 Portraits, Häuser, Sterne – Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
• 1988 Portraits – Museum Schloss Hardenberg
• 1987 Galerie Sonne, Berlin
• 1986 Portraits – Mai 36 Galerie, Luzern
• 1984 Konrad Fischer Galerie, Dusseldorf
• 1981 Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich

Group exhibitions

• 2023 Trace - Formations of Likeness – Haus der Kunst, München
• 2021 Ca2m Dialect – CA2M – Centro de Artes Dos de Mayo
• 2021 Mindbombs – Kunsthalle Mannheim
• 2021 Le supermarché des images – Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing
• 2021 THE WORLD:REGLITTERIZED - Haus der Kunst, Munich
• 2021 Paradise Lost #gender shift - DG Kunstraum, Munich
• 2021 lichtempfindlich 2 - SCHAUWERK Sindelfingen
• 2021 The Essl Collection - Albertina, Vienna
• 2020 Wolken in der zeitgenössischen Kunst – flüchtig – zeichenhaft – bedrohlich – Oldenburger Kunstverein
• 2020 Schall und Rauch. Die wilden Zwanziger – Kunsthaus Zürich
• 2020 SUBJEKT und OBJEKT. FOTO RHEIN RUHR – Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
• 2020 düsseldorf photo+ 2020 - düsseldorf photo+, Düsseldorf
• 2020 2. Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie 2020 - Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Mannheim-Ludwigshafen-Heidelberg
• 2019 Der montierte Mensch / The Assembled Human - Museum Folkwang, Essen
• 2019 The Source. Porquerolles - Fondation Carmignac Porquerolles Island Site, Hyères
• 2019 New Order Art and Technology in the Twenty-First Century - MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art, New York City
• 2019 HYPER! - Deichtorhallen Hamburg & Sammlung Falckenberg
• 2018 Bauhaus und die Fotografie – Zum Neuen Sehen in der Gegenwartskunst - NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf
• 2018 BLACK HOLE. Art and Materiality from Informal to Invisible - GAMeC Bergamo
• 2018 The Moment is Eternity - me Collectors Room Berlin
• 2018 Image Profile. Aspekte des Dokumentarischen in der fotografischen Sammlung des – MMK - MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
• 2018 Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today - ICA Boston
• 2018 Gegen die Strömung - Reise ins Ungewisse - Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen
• 2017 Greatest Hits. Das Beste der 60er, 70er, 80er und von heute – aus der Städtischen Sammlung Erlangen - Kunstpalais Erlangen
• 2017 STERNE. Kosmische Kunst von 1900 bis heute - LENTOS Kunstmuseum, Linz
• 2017 I AM A PROBLEM - MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
• 2017 Produktion. Made in Germany Drei - Sprengel Museum, Hanover
• 2017 Fotografien werden Bilder. Die Becher-Klasse - Städel Museum, Frankfurt
• 2017 COLOURS. The emotion of art - GAM Galleria Civica d´Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin
• 2017 Variable Dimensions - MAAT Lisbon
• 2016 Split - Spiegel. Licht. Reflexion - SCHAUWERK Sindelfingen
• 2016 Die Kerze - Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
• 2016 My Abstract World - me Collectors Room Berlin
• 2016 Embracing the Contemporary: The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs - Philadelphia Museum of Art
• 2015 FASZINATION FOTOGRAFIE - ESSL MUSEUM Klosterneuburg
• 2015 COLLLECTING LINES. Drawings from the Ringier Collection - Kunst Museum Winterthur
• 2015 Road Atlas - DZ BANK Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt
• 2015 Landscape in my Mind - Kunstforum Vienna
• 2015 2050. Eine kurze Geschichte der Zukunft – Royal Museum of Fine Art, Brussels
• 2014 48. Art Cologne, Cologne
• 2013 NEON. Vom Leuchten der Kunst – Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt
• 2012 ARTANDPRESS – Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
• 2011 Weltraum. Die Kunst und ein Traum – Kunsthalle, Vienna
• 2010 Hyper Real. Die Passion des Realen in Malerei und Fotografie – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna
• 2009 DIE KUNST IST SUPER – Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
• 2008 Vertrautes Terrain. Aktuelle Kunst in und über Deutschland – ZKM, Karlsruhe
• 2007 VISIT[E] Von Gerhard Richter bis Rebecca Horn – Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
• 2006 Metropolitanscape – Palazzo Cavour, Turin
• 2005 Zur Vorstellung des Terrors. Die RAF-Ausstellung – KW Kunst-Werke, Berlin; Neue Galerie, Graz
• 2004 9. Art Forum, Berlin
• 2003 1. Frieze Art Fair, London
• 2002 formal social – Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
• 2001 Szenenwechsel XVII – Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt a. M.
• 2000 How you look at it – Sprengel Museum, Hanover
• 1999 Das Versprechen der Fotografie – Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover
• 1998 Inglenook – Feigen Contemporary, New York
• 1997 Die Epoche der Moderne. Kunst im 20. Jahrhundert – Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
• 1996 Spaced Out – Kunstverein, Munich
• 1995 Deutscher Pavillon, Biennale di Venezia 46., Venice
• 1994 Bilder. Aspekte deutscher Fotografie nach 45 – Fotogalerie, Vienna
• 1993 Distanz und Nähe – Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
• 1992 documenta 9, Kassel
• 1991 Metropolis – Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
• 1990 To be or not to be – Centre d’Art de Santa Monica, Barcelona
• 1989 Contemporary European Art – First Bank Skyway Gallery, Minneapolis
• 1988 Aperto 88 – Biennale di Venezia, Venice
• 1987 Foto/Realismen – Villa Dessauer, Bamberg; Kunstverein, Munich; Grundkreditbank, Berlin
• 1986 FOTO cliche – Gallery Victoria Miro, London
• 1985 Das Auge des Künstlers. Das Auge der Kamera – Kunstverein, Frankfurt a. M.
• 1983 Laputa – Gutenbergstraße 62 e.V., Stuttgart
• 1982 Work by Young German Photographers – Art Galaxy, New York

Awards

• 2003 Hans-Thoma-Preis, Bernau
• 1993 Stipendiat der Deutschen Akademie Rom, Villa Massimo
• 1990 Dorothea-von-Stetten-Kunstpreis, Kunstmuseum Bonn
• 1989 1. Deutscher Fotopreis der 1. Foto-Triennale, Esslingen
• 1988 Förderpreis für Junge Künstler des Landes NRW, Dusseldorf
• 1987 ars viva-Preis, Kulturpreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e.V.
• 1985 Preis der Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung

Films

• Thomas Ruff. Photographs 1979-2011, Ralph Goertz, Cologne 2014, ’50.
• Fotografie in Auflösung. Der Künstler Thomas Ruff, Maria Anna Tappeiner, Germany 2012, ’46.
• Thomas Ruff, Ralph Goertz, Dusseldorf 2011, ’50.

Literature

• Thomas Ruff. Editionen, published by Jörg Schellmann, Ostfildern 2014.                   
• Thomas Ruff. Zeitungsfotos, published by Christoph Schifferli, Zurich 2014.
• Thomas Ruff. Lichten, exhibition catalogue, Kunsthalle Dusseldorf; S.M.A.K. Gent, Amsterdam 2014.
• Thomas Ruff. Photograms and Negatives, exhibition catalogue, Gagosian Gallery Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills 2014.
• Thomas Ruff/ Series, exhibition catalogue, Sala Alcalá Madrid, Madrid 2013.
• Thomas Ruff. 1979-2911, exhibition catalogue, Haus der Kunst München, Munich 2012.
• Thomas Ruff. Oberflächen & Tiefen, exhibition catalogue, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna 2009.
• Das Bild des Menschen in der Fotografie. Die Portraits von Thomas Ruff, Patricia Drück, Berlin 2004.
• Thomas Ruff. Fotografien, published by Matthias Winzen, Cologne 2004.

Own writings

• Thomas Ruff (Publisher): Nudes, Munich/New York 2003. 

Collections

Germany

• Berlin – Hamburger Bahnhof
• Dusseldorf – Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen
• Essen – Museum Folkwang
• Frankfurt a. M. – Städel Museum
• Cologne – Museum Ludwig
• Münster – Museum für Kunst und Kultur

England

• London – Zabludowicz Collection

Austria

• Vienna – Museum moderner Kunst, Stiftung Ludwig

Turkey

• Istanbul – Borusan Contemporary

USA

• New York – Guggenheim Museum
• New York – Museum of Modern Art