Heinrich Heidersberger
heidersberger. rhythmogramme – das gestimmte bild

April 12  - July 5, 2014
Thur-Sat, 3-6.30 pm and by appointment
Gallery Weeend May 1-May 4, 12 -7 pm


Heinrich Heidersberger

Rhythmogramme - das gestimmte Bild

Der Rhythmograph (Film by Ali Altschaffel/2014)

Der Rhythmograph on film 1959 - 1967


From April 12 until July 5, 2014, the Petra Rietz Salon Galerie is showing circa 40 rhythmograms by the German artist and photographer Heinrich Heidersberger (1906 – 2006). The abstract photographs were taken by Heidersberger with a specially constructed machine. Four pendula move a point of light during a time exposure. The series of rhythmograms originating between 1953 and 1965 soon met an enthusiastic audience: among the most prominent buyers was French artist Jean Cocteau, who presented several pieces to Picasso as a gift in 1956. The timeless compositions were also used in the applied arts: the German state TV station Südwestfunk used a rhythmogram as a logo in the 1960’s.

On the occasion of the 175th birthday of photography the rhythmograms are being shown in Berlin. The exhibition “heidersberger. rhythmograms – pitched pictures” places the award-winning compositions within the diverse oeuvre of Heinrich Heidersberger, who worked as photographer, painter, tinkerer and media artist. The photographic experiments are also put in an art- and media-theoretical context.

Heinrich Heidersberger himself called these photographs rhythmograms, the machine he built a rhythmograph. These phrases taken from the field of music describe the harmonic compositions as “pitched pictures”, based upon a specific relation of pendula frequencies.


At the same time the book „Heinrich Heidersberger. Light Harmonies“ edited by Andrew Witt, Texts by Andrew Witt u.a., graphic design by Neil Donnelly appears at the Hatje Cantz Verlag.


Institut Heidersberger