Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror premiered in 1922 at the Marmorsaal (Marble Hall) at the Berlin Zoo. Since then, it has been truly absorbed into popular culture, featuring in everything from horror films to television’s The Simpsons. The exhibition Phantoms of the Night. 100 Years of Nosferatu at the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg focuses on the influence this icon of German silent film had on the visual arts.

André Breton considered Nosferatu a key work for Surrealism. Conversely, the film would be unthinkable without its art historical precedents. The sketches for the set design, for example, include motifs that call to mind etchings by Francisco de Goya, German Romanticism, and tropes from the fantastical art and literature of the early 20th century. Other identified influences come from Caspar David Friedrich, as well as from the work of Alfred Kubin, Stefan Eggeler and Franz Sedlacek. The exhibition also explores the impact Nosferatu has had on contemporary art and everyday culture.

Curators

The exhibition is curated by Jürgen Müller, Frank Schmidt and Kyllikki Zacharias, head of the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg.

Outreach

The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive program of events, including lectures by Jürgen Müller, Frank Schmidt, Mark Benecke, Knut Elstermann and Kristina Jaspers. In cooperation with the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross), there is also the opportunity to donate blood once a month in the museum.

Publication

A catalogue is published by Sandstein Verlag (c. 256 pages, 21 x 27 cm, retail price: 48 euros; museum shop price: 38 euros).

The exhibition is made possible by the Freunde der Nationalgalerie. Media partner: Der Tagesspiegel.

A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin