Finding aid for the Heinz Ohff collection of Wolf Vostell papers, circa 1962-2007
Finding aid prepared by Alexis Adkins
Descriptive Summary
Title: Heinz Ohff collection of Wolf Vostell papers
Date (inclusive): circa 1962-2007
Number: 2009.M.24
Creator/Collector:
Ohff, Heinz
Physical Description:
8.0 linear feet
(4 boxes, 4 flatfile folders)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The Wolf Vostell papers, collected by the German art critic and friend of the artist, Heinz Ohff, document the activities
of one of Europe's pioneers in video art, Happenings, and Fluxus. The bulk of the material dates from the 1970s and the early
1980s.
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Language: Collection material is in
German
Biographical/Historical Note
Born in Leverkusen, Germany in 1932, Wolf Vostell was a pioneer of video art, and the Fluxus and Happening movements. While
studying graphic arts at the École nationale des beaux-arts in Paris, Vostell developed the concept of
dé-coll/age, or the process of artistic creation through the destruction of everyday materials. In Paris in 1958 he staged his first
Happening,
Theatre is in the Street. Four years later he joined with George Maciunas and Nam June Paik to coordinate the First International Fluxus Festival
at Museum Wiesbaden in Germany. Vostell was among the first artists to incorporate television into his work, which he did
as early as 1958. Vostell had close ties to Spain, the birthplace of his wife, where he founded the Museo Vostell Malpartida
de Cáceres in 1976. The first retrospective exhibition of Vostell's work took place in 1974 at Musée d'art moderne de la ville
de Paris. He died in Berlin in 1998.
Heinz Ohff was a friend of Wolf Volstell, as well as an art critic and editor at the Berlin
Tagespiegel from 1961 until 1987. He also served as president of the German chapter of International Association of Art Critics (AICA).
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Heinz Ohff collection of Wolf Vostell papers, circa 1962-2007, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 2009.M.24
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2009m24
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2009.
Processing History
In 2009 the collection was evaluated by John Tain and rehoused by Vladimira Stefura. In 2010 Alexis Adkins processed the collection
and wrote the finding aid; Isabella Zuralski supervised and edited the work.
Related Archival Materials
Scope and Content of Collection
Collected by Wolf Vostell's friend, the German art critic Heinz Ohff, the Wolf Vostell papers document the activities of one
of Europe's pioneers in video art, Happenings, and Fluxus. The bulk of the material dates from the 1970s and the early 1980s,
a prolific period in Vostell's career. Including correspondence, signed drawings and notes, press clippings, invitations to
Happenings and exhibitions, posters, and other printed ephemera, the collection provides a broad, if selective, overview of
Vostell's career and art. Many of the items are signed, dedicated, initialed, stamped and/or hand-written by Vostell, often
in the form of correspondence to Ohff. Particluarly well documented are several of Vostell's Happenings, his first retrospective
exhibition in Paris in 1974, the mobile museum Fluxus Zug (Fluxus Train), the Vostell Environment Museum, the Vostell Archive
in Berlin, and his work for the Museo Vostell de Malpartida de Cáceres in Spain. Also included are ephemera from Happenings
and dé-coll/age projects, including an empty Joya de Nicaragua cigar box inscribed by Vostell.
Arrangement
Organized in three series:
I. Happenings, 1962-1975;
II. Exhibitions ephemera, 1970-1983,undated;
III. Various papers, 1971-2007, undated.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Ohff, Heinz
Vostell, Wolf, 1932-1998
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
Museo Vostell de Malpartida de Cáceres
Subjects - Topics
Art critics--Germany--Correspondence
Artists--Germany--Correspondence
Fluxus (Group of artists)
Happening (Art)
Video art--Germany--20th century
Genres and Forms of Material
Drawings--Germany--20th century
Posters--Germany--20th century
Printed ephemera--Germany--20th century
Contributors
Vostell, Wolf, 1932-1998
Series I.
Happenings,
1962-1975
Physical Description:
2.88 linear ft.
8 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series contains printed ephemera relating to Happenings. Included are
P.-C.-Petite Ceinture,
T.O.T. (Technological Oak Tree),
Erdbeeren,
Fandango,
Heuwagen, and
Salat, a train taken by Vostell, cohorts, and several crates of lettuce between Cologne and Aachen over a 100 day period.
Arrangement
Materials are in the chronological order in which they were received.
Box 1, Folder 1
P.-C.-Petite Ceinture,
1962
Box 1, 3*
T.O.T. (Technological Oak Tree),
1972
Series II.
Exhibitions ephemera,
1970-1983, undated
Physical Description:
10 folders, 3 flatfile folders
Scope and Content Note
Ephemera relating to exhibitions. Included are Vostell's first major retrospective at the Musée d'art moderne de la ville
de Paris in 1974, the Vostell Environment Museum, the Vostell Fluxus Zug, and others.
Arrangement
The materials are in the order in which they were received.
Box 1
Vostell Environment Museum,
1977
Scope and Content Note
Also in Flatfile 1**.
Box 1
Vostell Fluxus Zug,
1981
Scope and Content Note
Also in Flatfile 2**.
Box 1, 3*
Various other exhibitions,
1970-1983, undated
Scope and Content Note
Also in Flatfile 3**.
Box 1, Folder 11-14
Papers,
1970-1983, undated
Box 3*, Folder 4
Oversize materials,
1971-1977, undated
Flatfile 3**
Posters,
1976-1982, undated
Series III.
Various papers,
1971-2007, undated
Physical Description:
13 folders, 1 flatfile folder
Scope and Content Note
Documented are other projects Vostell was involved in, including the Museo Vostell Malpartida de Caceres in Spain, and the
Happening Archiv Berlin (HAB). Also in this series is correspondence, a lecture Vostell gave at Marburg University, press
clippings, various texts and drawings, and a cigar box inscribed by Vostell.
Arrangement
The materials are in the order in which they were received.
Box 2, 3*
Museo Vostell Malpartida de Caceres,
1974-1986, undated
Scope and Content Note
Also in Flatfile 4**.
Box 3*, Folder 5
Oversize materials,
1974-1986, undated
Box 2, Folder 2
Happening Archiv Berlin,
1971-1973, undated
Box 2, Folder 3-5
Correspondence,
1971-1982, undated
Box 2, Folder 3
Letter to Ohff and essay by Vostell,
1971, undated
Scope and Content Note
Essay on the art market in Germany, titled "Nicht-handelbare Kunst? Kunst als Bewusstsein? Notizen zum Kunsthandel in der
BRD heute." Dated Apr 10, 1971. Typescript, photocopy. Also present is an annotated list of members of Akademie der Künste
Berlin.
Box 2, Folder 4
Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
1975
Scope and Content Note
Two letters to the artist, one letter from Vostell to Stephan Waetzold.
Box 2, Folder 5
Letters to Ohff from Vostell and his wife,
1972-1982
Box 2, Folder 6
Lecture at Marburg University,
1979
Box 2, 3*
Press clippings,
1977-1979, undated
Box 3*, Folder 6
Oversize clippings,
1977-1979, undated
Box 2, 3*
Various notes and drawings,
1971-1974
Box 2, Folder 8
Notes and drawings,
1971-1974
Box 3*, Folder 7
Oversize notes and drawings,
1972-1973
Box 2, Folder 9
Manifesto and
Wolf Vostell Ideen Kartei 1/1969,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Photocopies.
Box 2, Folder 10
Ephemera supplied by dealer,
1983-2007, undated
