Press
Divine Editions publishes archival prints from the estate of the German painter Peter Wirth (1951–2018). This page is for journalists and editors. Everything below is on the record; anything not listed here, please ask.
The story in five lines
- Peter Wirth was born in Bochum in 1951 and died in Bottrop in 2018, both in the Ruhr region.
- He trained first as a typesetter, took his Abitur at evening school, then studied graphic design at the Folkwang school in Essen and graduated with distinction.
- He painted, printed and photographed for four decades and catalogued his own work by hand. The estate is still being catalogued: 1,303 photographic records of the paintings have been analysed so far, and the photographic archive he left behind has not yet been worked through. We give no headline total, because we cannot yet stand behind one.
- In 1993 the Egyptian Museum in Berlin showed his Nefertiti cycle as Mutmaßungen über Nofretete. The catalogue text was written by Prof. Dr. Dietrich Wildung, who directed the collection from 1989 to 2009. Wirth had not been invited: he sent the director his own catalogue of works, unasked.
- The estate is held by his widow, Angelika Hannig-Wirth, in Bottrop, supported by her son Max Wirth. Every print carries a registration number recorded in the archive.
Exhibitions worth naming
Solo: 1988 Kunsthaus Essen · 1992 Kunstraum Marl · 1993 Ägyptisches Museum Berlin · 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2019 Galerie Mönch, Bremen.
Group: Große Kunstausstellung NRW, Düsseldorf, five years running from 1981 to 1985 · 1983 Kunstpreis Junger Westen, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen · 1984 Haus der Kunst, Munich · 2010 Quadrat Bottrop · 2014 4 Mal Folkwang, Museum Folkwang, Essen · 2023 Companions, Galerie Mönch, Bremen.
Awards: 1978 first prize, graphic competition of the city of Essen · 1981 Prize of the City of Frankenthal · 1982 scholarship of the Aldegrever-Gesellschaft, Münster · 1983 second prize, Junger Westen, Recklinghausen.
The full list, 1977 to 2023, is on the artist's page.
Why the Nefertiti cycle is offered only in one small size
It is the obvious question, so here is the answer before it is asked. The cycle exists — more than sixty canvases painted between 1987 and 1992 — but Wirth's own photographs of it date from the two-megapixel years. Those files are honest at one size and no larger: a sheet of 8 × 10 inches, printed at full resolution with nothing upscaled. Eighteen sheets are offered on that basis — ten after the paintings, eight after the Nefertiti linocuts. We do not enlarge by software and we do not reconstruct detail. Larger sizes wait on new photography of the originals. The exhibition has a page of its own.
What we can supply
- Images of individual works at print resolution, with the credit line and the terms of use agreed in writing beforehand.
- The complete exhibition and prize list as a document.
- An interview with Angelika Hannig-Wirth on the estate, the archive and what it takes to keep one.
- Details of the printing, the paper and the certificate that ships with every print.
Press images are supplied on request, not downloaded from this page. Please write to us and say what you need and where it will appear.
About Divine Editions
Divine Editions publishes archival prints from the estates of artists whose work was never widely offered for sale. It is run by Angelika Hannig-Wirth in Bottrop, Germany, supported by her son Max Wirth, and began in 2026 with the estate of her husband. Prints for the United States are made to order and shipped within the United States; a separate German shop ships within Germany. The paper is Hahnemühle German Etching, 310 gsm, printed with pigment inks. In the United States sheets run from 8 × 10 to 18 × 24 inches, from $99, with framing offered from 11 × 14 up to 16 × 20 inches; in the German shop sheets run from 20 × 25 to 50 × 70 cm, from €89, framed from 30 × 40 up to 40 × 50 cm. Editions are open — a limitation invented after an artist has died is not a decision he made — and every sheet carries a registration number recorded in the archive, with a certificate.
Contact
Angelika Hannig-Wirth · Divine Editions · Sperlingsweg 26, 46242 Bottrop, Germany
studio@divineeditions.com · We answer within one working day.