Thomas Ruff b. 1958

From 1977 to 1985, Thomas Ruff studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where fellow students included Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer and Thomas Struth. He went on to spend six months at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and later held a scholarship at Villa Massimo in Rome. In 2012 a comprehensive survey was presented at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. Other recent solo exhibitions include those organised by Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC), Málaga; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; and the Sprengel Museum, Hannover. Museum collections include the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK), Gent.