A portrait of an outstanding German artist’s relationship with African cultures.

The painter Ruth Baumgarte (1923–2013) was fascinated by African cultures. She took more than forty trips to the continent throughout her lifetime and was deeply influenced by the people and landscapes she encountered there. This catalog, which accompanies an exhibition at the Albertina Museum, focuses on the wide-ranging works that resulted from her travels to Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. After sketching on these trips, Baumgarte returned to Germany where she created vibrant and expressive oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings. These accomplished works explore the relationship between humans and nature, figure and landscape, and light and color.