Katharina Grosse and the presence in major European collections
Published on 08/20/2026 at 11:20 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Katharina Grosse has built a museum-level presence with immersive sprayed color works that occupy entire rooms and historic buildings. Her official website lists large-scale projects such as Arrels in Palma de Mallorca and the upcoming institutional show Black Bed at MUNCH in Oslo, illustrating how her practice sits firmly inside European collection and exhibition structures.
Museum shows across Europe
Grosse’s project Arrels unfolds in La Llotja de Palma in Palma de Mallorca, where Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma presents a solo installation that runs from May 28, 2026 to January 31, 2027. The museum describes the exhibition as a site-specific intervention in one of the city’s most significant historical buildings, underscoring how her painting interacts with architectural heritage.
At MUNCH in Oslo, the program for 2026 includes two substantial chapters for Grosse on the museum’s third floor: the exhibition Transforming Munch from April 24, 2026 to August 2, 2026 and the solo show Black Bed from September 25, 2026 to December 31, 2026. In the latter, MUNCH and Galerie Max Hetzler emphasize that she revisits her early work Das Bett (2004), connecting Edvard Munch’s legacy with her boundary-breaking spray-paint approach.
Collection presence and institutional backing
Beyond these 2026 projects, Grosse’s institutional visibility builds on earlier exhibitions that signal strong collection interest. Galerie Max Hetzler’s artist page lists solo exhibitions at Es Baluard in Palma and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, as well as group shows at major museums such as the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, where her works appear alongside historical painting by Goya, Monet, Cézanne and Bonnard. This positioning underlines how curators place her color-charged painting in dialogues that extend from classical modernism to contemporary abstraction.
The MUNCH program text explicitly notes that Grosse draws on Edvard Munch’s legacy and invites audiences to rethink painting through large-scale color interventions in the museum’s largest third-floor gallery. Es Baluard, in turn, presents Arrels as an expansive intervention within La Llotja, a Gothic civil architecture landmark, showing how collection-oriented institutions use her practice to animate historic spaces.
All news and background on Katharina Grosse
For additional reporting on exhibitions, commissions and institutional projects by Katharina Grosse, our internal search provides a compact overview of recent articles and background pieces.
The core of Grosse’s practice
Grosse is known for large-scale paintings applied with industrial spray guns directly onto walls, ceilings, floors and objects, dissolving the border between painting and architecture. Her recent exhibitions at White Cube Bermondsey in London and at La Llotja in Palma combine in-situ environments with canvases and works on paper, extending this spatial logic into more portable formats.
Current position of the work
Against this backdrop, Katharina Grosse’s work stands in an established position within European museum programs, anchored by long-running institutional presentations such as Arrels in Palma that keep her large-scale painting in public view.
Key facts on Katharina Grosse
- Artist: Katharina Grosse
- Medium / Genre: Painting and large-scale installation
- Born: 1961, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice with strong institutional presence in Germany, Spain and Norway
- Active since: Late 1980s, with solo exhibitions in European institutions from the 1990s onward
- Key work groups: Das Bett, Black Bed, Arrels, large-scale sprayed wall and floor paintings
- Current/last exhibition: Arrels, La Llotja de Palma, Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma, May 28, 2026 – January 31, 2027
- Major collections: Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma (Palma de Mallorca), institutions in Berlin and Munich including Alte Nationalgalerie and Pinakothek der Moderne via group exhibitions
- Awards: Various national and international recognitions documented across European art institutions
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Katharina Grosse
Where can I experience works by Katharina Grosse in a museum context?
Large-scale installations by Grosse are part of institutional programs at Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma in Palma de Mallorca and at MUNCH in Oslo, where exhibitions such as Arrels and Black Bed frame her painting in dialogue with historic architecture and Edvard Munch’s legacy.
How do European museums present Katharina Grosse’s work?
Institutions such as Es Baluard and MUNCH present Grosse’s sprayed color fields as immersive environments that cover floors, walls and ceilings, often in historically charged spaces, positioning her practice between painting, sculpture and architecture.
What role do group exhibitions play for Katharina Grosse’s collection presence?
Group shows at museums like the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich place Grosse alongside artists from Goya to Cézanne, underlining how her work functions within broad historical painting narratives and signals collection-level interest.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
