CHRISTOPHER LEHMPFUHL
NEUE WERKE VON DER MUSEUMSINSEL

KÖNIG TELEGRAPHENAMT
MONBIJOUSTRASSE 13, 10117 BERLIN

23 JANUARY – 7 MARCH 2026

OPENING
22 JANUARY 2026 | 6 – 8 PM

KÖNIG TELEGRAPHENAMT is pleased to present a solo exhibition by the renowned artist Christopher Lehmpfuhl.

The plein-air painter created works at central locations on and near Berlin’s Museum Island on behalf of KÖNIG GALERIE and in cooperation with KORNFELD Galerie. As a native Berliner, he is deeply connected to his home city and has for many years engaged intensively with its architectural, political, and atmospheric transformations. With the widely acclaimed series Die Neue Mitte (The New Center), he documented the dismantling of the Palace of the Republic and the reconstruction of the Berlin City Palace in around 140 large-format paintings. A significant part of this body of work is now held in the Würth Collection.

The ten oil paintings and six watercolors presented at KÖNIG TELEGRAPHENAMT were created in 2024 and 2025 at various locations around and on Berlin’s Museum Island, which is in close proximity to the gallery in Berlin Mitte, including the Bode Museum, the Alte Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin Cathedral, the Humboldt Forum, Gendarmenmarkt, and Unter den Linden. Lehmpfuhl works consistently plein air, exposing himself directly to changing conditions of light, weather, and atmosphere. The focus is not on the mere depiction of the motif, but on shifts in light; perception, rhythm, and composition are the determining factors.

The often large-format oil paintings are created exclusively outdoors in a physical, direct painting process. Christopher Lehmpfuhl works without brushes, using only his hands. By shaping, pushing, and compacting the oil paint, a relief-like application of color develops, lending the depicted architecture an almost sculptural presence and making the immediate engagement with place, time, and atmosphere visible.

The small-format watercolors—also usually created on site and executed with a brush—stand in close dialogue with the oil paintings. They are not preparatory sketches but independent works in which light, movement, and mood are rendered in a condensed form. Watercolor and oil are two different yet closely connected ways of following a shared perception.