Germaine Krull’s works return to Bangkok after decades

Until Oct 2, see “Germaine Krull: The Return Of The Avant-Gardist”, an exhibition co-curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers and Maren Niemeyer. It showcases the impressive works of Germaine Krull, the late photographer, revolutionary and war journalist whose works are being shown to the Thai public for the first time at The Jim Thompson Art Center.

Born in 1897 in Posen, in modern-day Poland, Krull was hailed as a pioneer of avant-garde photography. She lived a bohemian life and re-invented herself on many occasions, which included time living in Bangkok, Thailand. Her works made significant contributions to the fields of photomontage, photobooks and photojournalism. Krull studied photography in Munich but relocated to Paris from 1926–35, where she produced commercials and fashion photographs and contributed intimate, expressive reportage to the illustrated magazine VU. Her highly acclaimed photobook Métal (1928) featured images of the Eiffel Tower and other modernist structures in Paris and Rotterdam, exemplifying New Vision photography.

She arrived in Thailand in 1947 for a short break to recover from her work as a war correspondent, but the country became one of the longest chapters of her life. Alongside the charismatic American Jim Thompson, she became the co-owner of the Oriental Hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. After two decades in Thailand, Krull retired from the hotel business in 1966, moved to India and converted to Buddhism, and lived alongside Tibetan monks.

For the first time, her works return to Bangkok. The exhibition at the Jim Thompson Art Center presents a selection of works, provided by the Germaine Krull archive of the Museum Folkwang in Essen, which manages her artistic estate. The exhibition offers insights into her experimental photographs, which include photographs she created in Thailand that have never been on display before.