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Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop

Exhibitions & Museums

Robert Smithson in Europe

September 27, 2025 to February 22, 2026

In the fall of 2025, the Josef Albers Museum will present one of the most important US-American artists of the 1960s and 1970s in the local context of the Ruhr area in its award-winning new building. The Bottrop exhibition for the first time brings together Robert Smithson’s artistic production in the Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain and Germany, with a special focus on North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the Rhineland and the Ruhr region local to the city of Bottrop.

Robert Smithson, „Broken Circle / Spiral Hill“ (1971), Emmen, The Netherlands, „Broken Circle“, Water, sand, and boulder, Diameter: 140 ft. (42.6 m); canal: 12 ft. (3.6 m) wide, 10-15 ft. (3-4.5 m) deep, „Spiral Hill“, Earth, topsoil, sand, Diameter: 75 ft. (22.9 m) at base © Holt/Smithson Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025

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"Robert Smithson in Europe" includes significant works from international museums and from the collection of the Holt/Smithson Foundation, including the 1969 works "Heerlen Soil and Mirrors", "Essen Soil and Mirrors", "Chalk-MirrorDisplacement", and works relating to the 1971 earthwork "BrokenCircle/Spiral Hill".

*Robert Smithson creating „Mirror Displacement on a Compost Heap“ (1969), For „Prospect 69“, Düsseldorf, Germany, Photograph: Nancy Holt © Holt/Smithson Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025*

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Photo below or top right:

Robert Smithson, „Asphalt Rundown“ (1969), Rome, Italy, Sculptural event: Asphalt and earth © Holt/Smithson Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025‍

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