diether kunerth (1940)
Diether Kunerth is a contemporary artist who lives in Ottobeuren, Upper Swabia.
Diether Kunerth studied from 1960 to 1967 at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich and was master-class student of Prof. Heinrich Kirchner. Kunerth soon turned his back on the city to work in Ottobeuren. Without being subject to the constraints of big-city art business, he developed a large and extensive oeuvre. In consideration of Kunerth's artistic significance, the municipality of Ottobeuren established the Museum für zeitgenössische Kunst – Diether Kunerth (museum for contemporary art – Diether Kunerth), which cost 4.7 Mio Euro and was co-funded by the federal state of Bavaria und the EU. The museum opened on May 24, 2014. In the ceremonial address at the opening of the museum, the president of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Dieter Rehm, described his friend as a "genius of the place" and a "genius of the Allgäu".