Jan A. Ahlers

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Jan A. Ahlers (born December 22, 1934 in Oldenburg , † December 31, 2013 ) was a German entrepreneur and art collector in Herford .

Life

Jan A. Ahlers was born as the son of the textile entrepreneur Adolf Ahlers. His brother is the entrepreneur Dirk Ahlers (* 1937).

After graduating from the Friedrichs-Gymnasium Herford , studying at the universities of applied sciences in Mönchengladbach and Reutlingen and completing a commercial apprenticeship, Jan A. Ahlers began working in his father's company in 1959. After the death of his father in 1968, he took over the management of the family-owned textile factory Ahlers in Herford . He turned the medium-sized manufacturer of workwear into an internationally active group for men's fashion with the brands Pierre Cardin , Otto Kern , Baldessarini , Gin Tonic , Jupiter, Pioneer Authentic Jeans, Pionier Jeans & Casuals and Pionier Workwear workwear. In 1987 he brought the company to the stock exchange as Ahlers AG . He was Chairman of the Management Board until 2002, then Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board until May 7, 2013. His daughter Stella A. Ahlers has been running the group of companies with its 2200 employees since 2005 .

Art collector

Ahlers wanted to study painting after graduating from high school. He was rejected from the art academy and became a textile merchant. His interest was in art throughout his life alongside the profession. He met numerous artists, curators, dealers and other representatives of the art world. At a young age he was often a guest at Gabriele Münter's , who had grown up in Herford; later he made friends with Bernhard Luginbühl , Dieter Roth and Daniel Spoerri, among others . In more than 35 years he brought together one of the largest and most complete private collections of Expressionism . Originally he wanted to give his collection to the public. The collection could have been on permanent loan in the MARTa Herford Museum , which opened in 2005 on a site formerly owned by the Ahlers company. Since the museum with its founding director Jan Hoet only wanted to dedicate itself to contemporary art of the 21st century, Ahlers withdrew his offer. The 66-year-old then sold the more than 100 works in 2001 to art dealers Christoph Graf Douglas (Frankfurt) and David Nash (New York). Connoisseurs assumed a price between 100 and 120 million German marks . Ahlers used part of the proceeds to purchase works by contemporary artists for his new collection; he knew some of them personally.

Ahlers Pro Arte Foundation

In 1995 Jan A. Ahlers and his daughter Stella (* 1965) founded the Ahlers Pro Arte Foundation in Herford . The foundation was based in Hanover from 1995 to 2016. In 2005 the foundation moved to the Warmbüchenviertel in Hanover , Warmbüchenstrasse 16. From 1948 to 1997 the Kestnergesellschaft was located in this historic building . In autumn 2016 the foundation moved into its own house near the company premises in Herford- Elverdissen . The last exhibition in the old rooms of the foundation took place from February 26 to June 26, 2016 ( ZERO The Survey of Reality ).

The foundation's mandate is, in particular, the documentation and scientific development of the influence that the art of German Expressionism had on the further development of the art of the 20th century at home and abroad.

In addition to the company's own exhibition activities, works from the collection are to be presented to the public through loans to exhibition venues, including the Sprengel Museum Hannover . In April 2016, Stella Ahlers said that the Hanover Foundation would remain connected to the cooperation agreement with the Sprengelmuseum.

Others

Ahlers was last married to Kata Legrady (* 1974). He died unexpectedly on New Year's Eve 2013, shortly after his 79th birthday.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary by the Ahlers company
  2. ^ Herford entrepreneur Jan A. Ahlers deceased In: Neue Westfälische , January 2, 2014
  3. ↑ Interview with Jan A. Ahlers in the art magazine Art, issue 04/2001 ( Memento from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Ahlers Pro Arte Foundation
  5. ^ A b Daniel Alexander Schacht: Mourning over the withdrawal of the Ahlers Foundation In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , April 12, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Ahlers, Jan A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenburg (Oldenburg)
DATE OF DEATH December 31 2013