Home

Dr. Langfeld was appointed as a specialist in international modernism at the University of Amsterdam in August 2011.

One of his areas of interest within this field is modern German art. In addition, he is interested in the interaction between art, politics, and society during particular periods, among them the years of National Socialism; in the history of art collecting; and in the formation of canons in modern European art. His aim is to understand why certain works of art, artists, and art movements are included in the canon, in other words, why these are regarded as authoritative while others are not.

Gregor Langfeld, born in Germany and formed in The Netherlands, has lived in Amsterdam since 1989. He was the Managing Editor at the publishing house Castrum Peregrini, founded by artists, writers, and intellectuals who fled Nazi Germany, and also served as the Editor of the review Castrum Peregrini, which was devoted to art, literature, and cultural history. In addition he was studying Art History and Literary Theory at the Free University Amsterdam: his MA thesis investigated the philosophico-aesthetic principle of romantic irony in the literary and expressive work of the Dadaist artist Kurt Schwitters.

After receiving his MA, he started extensive research into the reception of modern German art in The Netherlands, focusing on the manner in which it was first collected here. Once begun, all the major Dutch modern art museums came to participate in the inquiry, which resulted in the book and exhibition Duitse Kunst in Nederland: Verzamelen, tentoonstellen, kritieken, 1919-1964 (Gemeentemuseum The Hague/Groningen Museum). Subsequently, for his Ph.D. at Leiden University he turned his attention to the procedures of canonisation in modern art, completing a dissertation entitled Die Kanonisierung moderner deutscher Kunst in New York, 1904-1957.