The sculptor August Gaul (1869–1921) is considered a pioneer of both animal sculpture as an autonomous genre and modern abstraction. His sculptures depict zoo, domesticated and farm animals as beings with individual character and pulsating liveliness.
Gaul lived in times of drastic transformations Industrialisation and increasing urbanisation from the end of the 19th century onward also affected the relationship between humans and animals.
With more than 250 sculptures, paintings, prints and drawings, photographs and books the exhibition presents his oeuvre in dialogue with contemporary works of art and testimonies from science, and popular culture.
This contextualisation illustrates the modern redefinition of the relationship between human beings and animals, an issue that still has overwhelming relevance today.