Thomas Schütte (born 16 November 1954) is a German contemporary artist. He sculpts, creates architectural designs, and draws. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
In 2007 he made Model for a Hotel, an architectural model of a 21-storey building made from horizontal panes of yellow, blue and red glass and weighing more than eight tonnes, for the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square.[3]
Schütte participated in documenta in Kassel three times; in 2005, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the Venice Biennial.
Multiple of Thomas Schütte's work were featured in a retrospective exhibition on the entirety 6th floor of the MoMA from October 10th, 2024 thorough January 18th, 2025. The works featured are installations of both his statues as well as his work with oil and watercolor, spanning from his early work of self portraits while studying under Gerhard Richter in 1975 to his more contemporary work in 2012 with Krieger (2012). [8]
Schütte has received numerous awards, including the Kurt Schwitters Preis für Bildende Kunst der Niedersächsischen Sparkassenstiftung, 1998, and the Kunstpreis der Stadt Wolfsburg, Germany, 1996.[15] In 2005, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for his work in María de Corral's exhibition "The Experience of Art".[16] He was awarded the Düsseldorf Prize in 2010, previously given to Bruce Nauman, Marlene Dumas, and Rosemarie Trockel.
Art market
A cast aluminum sculpture by Schütte, Großer Geist No. 16 (2002), an eight-foot-tall sculpture of a ghostly figure, sold for $4.1 million at Phillips de Pury & Company in 2010.[17]Großer Geist Nr. 6 (1996), a bronze figure with green patina, fetched $5.3 million at Christie's New York in 2014.[18]