"Science is the mind of the world,
art is her soul. "
Maxim Gorki (1868-1936)

Promotion of art and culture, science and research

Wolfgang Johannes Hönle - Art and Chemistry Foundation

The foundation was set up in September 2017 as a non-profit dependent foundation at the German Chemical Society . The idea behind it: art and chemistry should stimulate each other. The founder, Dr. Wolfgang Johannes Hönle, therefore, sees the GDCh as the perfect trustee.

In the spirit of building a cross-border bridge according to Wilhelm Ostwald, the foundation aims to promote cooperation and a better understanding of art and culture on the one hand and chemistry in science and research on the other by financing a wide range of projects.

The founder, Dr. Wolfgang Johannes Hönle, worked in the fields of Inorganic Chemistry and solid state research. For many decades he worked for the Max Planck Society in solid-state research and in planning for the construction and operation of research institutes.

art collection and capital assets

Extensive art collections and capital assets were brought into the foundation. The art collections comprise a total of around 4,000 graphic sheets and come from the donor's private collection. They were included in the foundation's assets and handed over to the University of Trier as a permanent loan. The foundation's capital comes largely from the inheritance of the founder's mother, Edith Hönle (1923 - 2009), who selflessly preserved and passed on the family inheritance. This heritage also made it possible to build up the art collections.

foundation purposes

The founder, Dr. Wolfgang Johannes Hönle, is particularly interested in making quick and unbureaucratic decisions about funding. The decision-making body is the Board of Trustees. Interdisciplinary projects in particular should be funded.

Promotion of art and culture

through the further development of the collections from the donor's private collection, which were taken over into the foundation's assets and given to the University of Trier as a permanent loan. The collections can be increased in value through purchases and barter transactions. Exhibitions and/or permanent loans to other suitable institutions are being considered. It is also planned to produce publications on these collections and to research the objects in the collection as part of projects.

Promotion of science and research

Allocation of grants for research work/projects by graduate students, doctoral students, habilitation candidates and professors (m/f/d) in the field of solid state research (chemistry, physics and materials research) and dissemination of results in the field of solid state research through appropriate public relations work and press reports.

Other activities of the founder

Exhibition in the Weser Renaissance Museum in Lemgo

 

• Article in the Lipper Zeitung
• IDW notification
• Homepage of the institute CPfS
• Article in accompanying publication
• Article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

 

Further activities of the founder

New edition of the “Colour Primer” for Ostwald’s 170th birthday

In the middle of the First World War in October 1916, Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932) wrote in Großbothen/Sa. the foreword to his “Colour Primer”, which was published in the same year with 1200 copies and soon became a bestseller in today's sense of the word. It contained 8 drawings and 192 color samples, which were not printed, but were made from pigment spreads, partly by the author himself and partly "made by hand under his direct supervision, and are therefore much more accurate than printed ones could be at this time". In 1917, Ostwald was able to publish the 2nd and 3rd editions within a few months, followed by the 4th and 5th editions in May 1920.

The new edition of the “Colour Primer”, published on the occasion of Ostwald's 170th birthday, based on the 4th and 5th editions, which Ostwald himself described as a completely revised edition, contains nine drawings and 238 color samples. This new edition is “truffled” by an extensive afterword by Eckhard Bendin (*1941), a proven expert on Ostwald's work on color and himself the author of numerous contributions to color theory. The double cone according to Wilhelm Ostwald shown on page 57 in Fig. 5 has been part of the permanent loan from the Wolfgang Johannes Hönle Foundation "Art and Chemistry" at the GDCh to the Custody of the TU Dresden since 2022.

Members of the Board of Trustees

Chair: Vladimir Reschetilowski, Prof. em. TU Dresden
Deputy Chair: Dr. WJ Hönle, Ettlingen

Members:

Dr. Matthias Urmann, Sanofi Aventis, GDCh former president
for Prof. Dr. Karsten Danielmeier, GDCh President 2022/2023

Dr. Michael Maeder, State Art-
Collections Dresden

Susanne Bauer, qualified cultural scientist