150 out of a total of 650 paintings, sculptures, and prints demonstrate its wide spectrum. On the one hand outstanding works of West-German abstract painting, represented by Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Bernard Schultze, Emil Schumacher, and Fred Thieler, are to be seen, protagonists of East-German painting such as Hartwig Ebersbach, Max Uhlig, Bernhard Heisig and Harald Metzkes on the other. This exciting contrast between abstraction and figuration reflects the contradictory experience of the contemporaries in the other part of Germany in the last fifty years. The paintings span from the colourful worlds of Graubner and the expressive gestures of Stöhrer to the critical view on history of Heisig and the disguised pictures of Metzkes. Uhlig and Ebersbach, Balkenhol and Hacker show their view on the human being. Another focus of the exhibition is put on abstract and figurative sculpture of the 20th century: from classics like Calder, Laurens, and Lipchitz, sculptors of the second half of the century like Antes, Avramidis, Hauser, Klinge, and Szymanski to very young artists like Rentmeister and Schramm.