Ontworpen wereld: Door de ogen van Tata Ronkholz (1940–1997)

Exhibition dates: 14th February – 21st June, 2026

Curator: Gabriele Conrath-Scholl, Director of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur in Cologne

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Trinkhalle / Kiosk, Düsseldorf, Sankt-Franziskus-Straße 107
1977
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

In a nutshell:

Large format camera
Front on, realist, sharply defined objective documentary photographs of architectural structures of the urban landscape
In series

In reality:

Structures cut from the fabric of existence
Isolated by the subjective eye of the photographer and the lens of the camera
What to include or exclude

(In the contemporary photographs of the spaces in the posting, the shops are surrounded by trees and vegetation, they have transformed from kiosk to shuttered shop, from boutique to florist: the architecture remains but traces of previous incarnations are visible only in these photographs. Nothing is permanent except change).

In the photographs of kiosks, corner shops and industrial gates, it is the minutiae of existence (not as mere decoration) that gives these supposedly objective photographs their subjective power. For example, “the photo Trinkhalle, Köln-Nippes – with its ice cream and newspaper advertisements and vending machines for chewing gum and cigarettes” is more than amusing and engaging – it depicts vital, archaeological evidence of the transitory nature of human existence in the pyschogeography of the urbanscape.1

In Ronkholz’ photographs of the terrain (from the Latin terra, earth/land) of the city, her exploration of urban environments emphasises interpersonal connections to places – and testify “to social, cultural, and economic change and shows how people shape the world around them.” (Press release)

This is the fluid boundary that these photographs so beautifully and incisively depict: the interface between architecture and human, between order (form/surface) and chaos (placement of insolent signs), between utopian perfection and dystopian unruliness – the one coexistent with the other.

This confluence of pattern and randomness, objective and subjective, is what gives these photographs of the everyday a lasting significance.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

 

1/ Guy Debord (November 1956). “Theory of the Dérive”. Les Lèvres Nues (9). Translated by Ken Knabb.

Many thankx to Huis Marseille, Amsterdam for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.

 

 

 

Sankt-Franziskus-Straße 104-107 Düsseldorf

 

 

Installation views of the exhibition Designed World: Through the Eyes of Tata Ronkholz (1940-1997) at Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, February – June, 2026

 

 

Installation views of the exhibition Designed World: Through the Eyes of Tata Ronkholz (1940-1997) at Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, February – June, 2026

 

 

Installation view of the exhibition Designed World: Through the Eyes of Tata Ronkholz (1940-1997) at Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, February – June, 2026 showing at left, Tata Ronkholz’s Düsseldorf Harbor (1980)

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Wallpaper store (installation views)
1964
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence (installation view)
1975
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Santa Maria Assunta, Dom / Cathedral, Volterra
1975
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Palazzo dei Vescovi (Museo dell’Antico), Pistoia
1975
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Industrial Gate (installation view)
Nd
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
ECT. Rotterdam/Prinses Beatrixhaven, Reeweg
1977
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Firma/Company Tromm, Tor Gleisanschluss/Gate railway siding, Köln-Niehl
1983
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Firma/Company ROW, Hafen, Tor/Gate Nr. 0930, Wesseling-Godorf
1984
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz was one of the first students in Bernd and Hilla Becher’s famous photography class at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Her fellow students included Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth, all of whom became artists of world renown. Oddly enough Tata Ronkholz’ work is only now receiving the same international acclaim. The retrospective Designed World: Through the Eyes of Tata Ronkholz (1940-1997), on show at Huis Marseille from 14 February until 21 June 2026, is the first large-scale tribute to this many-sided artist.

Objective-documentary photography

Tata Ronkholz was a photographer, product designer, and interior architect. Her photographic series lie within the tradition of objective, documentary photography, a tradition which was decisively shaped by the artist couple Bernd and Hilla Becher. Like theirs, Ronkholz’ work is characterised by clear compositions, a serial approach, and a documentary focus on architectural structures and everyday architectures. Using a large-format camera she produced sharply defined and realistic photographs in which the subject matter, rather than the individual style of the artist, takes centre stage. Her work is predominantly in black and white, although colour images also appear, demonstrating her ambition to engage with the artistic colour photography that emerged in Germany during the 1970s and ’80s, following the example set by the New Color Photography introduced by the American photographers Stephen Shore and William Eggleston.

Kiosks and corner shops

Tata Ronkholz became known for her appealing series of kiosks (Trinkhallen) and small shops that capture typical moments of urban everyday culture. These were photographed between 1977 and 1985, particularly in neighbourhoods of Cologne and Düsseldorf, in the Ruhr area, as well as in Leverkusen and Krefeld. For example, the photo Trinkhalle, Köln-Nippes – with its ice cream and newspaper advertisements and vending machines for chewing gum and cigarettes – is as amusing and engaging as Boutique, Köln-Mülheim in which, according to the store sign, alongside clothing records were also for sale. The photographs illustrate the extent to which product offerings, decoration, and advertising in public spaces has been transformed. Tata Ronkholz’ choice of subject means that her work indirectly testifies to social, cultural, and economic change and shows how people shape the world around them.

Industrial gates

Another significant series is dedicated to industrial gates, photographed between 1977 and 1985. The sober black-and-white images of these gates, with their grids and frameworks, offer glimpses into the interiors of industrial areas. In the photographs the gates function as interfaces between private and public space, between interior and exterior, and between activity and calm. Their aesthetic, reminiscent of abstract artworks, imbues the everyday with a new significance.

Collaboration with Thomas Struth

In 1979 Ronkholz, together with her fellow student Thomas Struth, began work on an impressive documentary series on Düsseldorf’s Rheinhafen. The project originated from the planned redevelopment of this historic harbour area – a site that, in its original form, was considered an industrial area of significant urban historical and architectural importance. Together they set out to document the harbour in its entirety, capturing its historic buildings, technical installations, and operational structures. In carefully composed images they recorded façades, interiors, silos, warehouses, crane structures, and harbour basins, before these elements partially disappeared or were fundamentally altered during the restructuring.

Tata Ronkholz as product designer

Between 1961 and 1965 Ronkholz studied at the Werkkunstschule Krefeld (an academy of applied art) with a focus on furniture design, and subsequently worked as a freelance designer until 1977. The exhibition also explores this aspect of Ronkholz’ oeuvre, including depictions of geometrically shaped furniture and lighting fixtures as well as designs for office and cafeteria furniture. Ronkholz’ designs are characterised by clear forms and functional elegance. Finally, the retrospective also presents early photographs of architectural forms created in 1975/76 in Italy and France, revealing her strong affinity for aspects of the ‘designed world’ across different areas of life.

Ronkholz’ estate, acquired in 2011 by VAN HAM Art Estate in Cologne, forms the basis of the exhibition alongside the holdings of Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf. Significant contributions have also been made from the in-house collections of Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur – who also curated the exhibition – and through loans from private collections.

Book

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, Tata Ronkholz: Gestaltete Welt. Eine Retropektive (2025, Schirmer/Mosel Verlag GmbH), with texts in German and English. It is available from the Huis Marseille museum shop (€49.90).

Text from the Huis Marseille website

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Imbissstube/Snack bar, Düsseldorf-Rath, Linienstraße 141
1977
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Trinkhalle/Kiosk, Ratingen, Volkardeyer Straße 25
1977
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Trinkhalle/Kiosk, Köln-Nippes, Merheimer Straße 294
1983
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Merheimer Str. 294, Köln-Nippes

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Insurance office, Leverkusen-Schlehbusch
1970s-1980s
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Imbissstube/Snack bar, Köln-Mülheim, Berliner Straße 120
1979
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Boutique, Köln-Mülheim, Berliner Straße 120
1980
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Berliner Str. 120, Köln, Germany

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Friseur/Hairdresser, Köln-Ehrenfeld, Philippstraße 30
1980
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Lagerhalle mit Löwenwappen/Warehouse with lion crest
1979
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

  

  

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Im Düsseldorfer Hafen / In Düsseldorf harbor
around 1980
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

  

  

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Im Düsseldorfer Hafen/In Düsseldorf harbour
around 1980
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

  

  

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Technik und Kräne/Technology and cranes
Nd
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

  

  

Thomas Struth (German, b. 1954)
Zollhafen/Customs harbour
1979
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

  

  

Thomas Struth (German, b. 1954)
Getreidespeicher, Rhenus seitlich / Grain silo, Rhenus lateral
1979
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

  

  

Tata Ronkholz (German, 1940-1997)
Technik und Kräne / Technology and cranes
Nd
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Thomas Struth (German, b. 1954)
Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor (Berger Hafen v. d. VHS/from Adult education center), Düsseldorf
1979
From the series Rheinhafen/Rhine harbor Düsseldorf, 1979-1981
© VAN HAM Art Estate: Tata Ronkholz, 2026

 

 

Charles Wilp (German, 1932-2005)
Tata Ronkholz
c. 1979

 

 

View of the exhibition posters for Designed World: Through the Eyes of Tata Ronkholz (1940-1997) at Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, February – June, 2026

 

 

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