VENICE — German paper artist Lore Bert, whose work in handmade paper and light spans more than 350 exhibitions in 30 countries, turned 90 on July 2, 2026, capping a year that brought one of Germany’s highest civilian honours and a major exhibition at the Venice Art Biennale. She celebrated in Venice with friends from around the world.
Born July 2, 1936, in Giessen, Bert reflected on her formative years in her birthday speech. “Having grown up as a war child, having lived through the bombing nights of 1944 in Darmstadt, and then during my studies in the fifties, when I studied at the art academy in Berlin, where I saw Berlin in ruins, reconstruction has been the focus of my whole life,” she said. She added that her work has always aimed “to find what connects people, since it was division that led to war.”
Paper, light, and a lifetime of rebuilding
Her signature material is handmade Far Eastern paper from Japan, Nepal, Korea, and China, combined with neon light and, since the 1990s, Egyptian papyrus and gold leaf. By 2008 she had created more than 110 paper environments transforming entire rooms in institutions worldwide.
Art historian Countess Bettina von Pfeil, speaking at the birthday celebration, noted that a highlight of Bert’s exhibition history is her Venetian trilogy, now concluding with the birthday show Towards the Light in San Fantin. Bert, who trained under sculptor Hans Uhlmann in Berlin, lives and works between Mainz and Venice.
Cultural journalist Andreas Berg, marking her 90th birthday, said her admirers include “museum directors and exhibition curators from around the globe, as well as prominent figures such as Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed al-Qassimi III of Sharjah, former Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny, and entrepreneur and collector Reinhold Würth.” Berg also noted that talk show host Alfred Biolek once commissioned Bert to create an “Environment” for his private Berlin apartment.
Recognition from Berlin to the lagoon
Just ahead of her 90th birthday, Bert received the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon on June 12, 2026, at a ceremony at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin. The award, presented by Germany’s Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer, recognized her decades of contribution to German cultural life through her sculptural work with paper.
Her exhibition Towards the Light, at the Church of San Fantin, and further works displayed at La Galleria in Venice, remain open to the public until November 22, 2026.
