Kids!
Between Representation and Reality
28.11.2025 — 6.4.2026

Kids!
Between Representation and Reality

28.11.2025 — 6.4.2026

Few subjects reflect a society’s values and norms, and how they change over time, as clearly as depictions of children. The exhibition Kids! at the Bucerius Kunst Forum, focuses on the portrayal of children in art from the 16th to the 21st century. Six chapters approach the subject from different perspectives and show not only paintings but also photographs, works on paper, media art and sculptures.

The exhibition thus begins with a presentation of depictions of Madonna, in which the ideas of mother-child relationships and their influence up to the present day become clear. The portrayal of children has had various functions over the centuries. Created in circles of the high nobility around 1500, portraits of children were intended to underpin the continuity and claim to power. Against this backdrop, portraits were often created showing the successors to the throne in armor as small adults. In this way, they were prepared for the future role of general and ruler. A playful variant is the portrait historié, in which the children were depicted as ancient gods, for example. In the 17th century in particular, Dutch and Spanish genre painters took up the motif of poor children, which still lives on today. The artists were not necessarily interested in taking a socially critical stance. It is not uncommon for children in financially disadvantaged, often precarious life situations to have a smile written all over their faces. Child labor was not fundamentally rejected either. It was seen as a valuable way for children to contribute to their family's income.

The multifaceted nature of the exhibition illuminates the diverse perspectives and functions of children's pictures over the centuries. In the past, for instance, portraits of deceased children were the only means of preserving their memory. Today, commemoration takes place in a different way – for example through lifelike photographs that show children in happy life situations. The most serious change, which testifies to a different conception and definition of childhood, took place at the end of the 17th century and in the 18th century. Children were now allowed their own development – as close to nature as possible and away from the adult world.

The theme of “being a child” is still one of the most popular pictorial themes in the visual arts today: Trying things out, pushing oneself to the limits, drawing, playing and togetherness are characteristic of the most important phase of a person's life.

The exhibition includes works by Titian, Anthony van Dyck, Oskar Kokoschka, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Nobuyoshi Araki, Thomas Lawrence, Joshua Reynolds, Rineke Dijkstra, Judith Leyster, Christoph Amberger, Gerhard Richter and many more.

The exhibition is sponsored by