retrospective
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retrospective
An exhibition that gives an overview of an artist's work to date. Works from different creative periods are often shown.
Das Museum widmet dem Maler eine umfassende Retrospektive zu seinem 80. Geburtstag.
The museum is dedicating a comprehensive retrospective to the painter for his 80th birthday.
The word comes from Latin: 'retro' means 'back' and 'spectare' means 'to look'. A 'Retrospektive' (retrospective) is therefore always a kind of 'Rückschau' (looking back), whether at art, events, or work on a project.
Die Ausstellung bietet eine faszinierende Retrospektive auf die 1960er Jahre.
The exhibition offers a fascinating retrospective on the 1960s.
You can easily recognize the meaning from the context. In connection with art and museums, it means an exhibition (m01). The fixed expression 'in der Retrospektive' (in retrospect) points to the general look back (m02). In the world of work, especially in IT, it refers to a team meeting (m03).
Das Kunstmuseum zeigt eine Retrospektive der Malerin.
The art museum is showing a retrospective of the painter.
In an art context, a retrospective is often 'gewidmet' (dedicated) to an artist. A museum 'zeigt' (shows), 'veranstaltet' (puts on), or 'organisiert' (organizes) a retrospective.
Die große Retrospektive wird dem verstorbenen Architekten gewidmet.
The major retrospective is dedicated to the late architect.
In the meaning 'Rückblick' (look back), the word is used almost exclusively in the fixed expression 'in der Retrospektive' (in retrospect). This often introduces a sentence in which a past situation is reassessed.
In der Retrospektive hätte ich damals mutiger sein sollen.
In retrospect, I should have been braver back then.
The use of 'Retrospektive' (retrospective) for a meeting is technical language from agile project management (e.g. Scrum). Outside the IT and startup world, this meaning is often unknown and is simply called 'Rückblick' (review) or 'Nachbesprechung' (debrief).
In der Retrospektive haben wir über die Probleme im letzten Sprint gesprochen.
In the retrospective, we talked about the problems in the last sprint.
exhibition / issuing
'die Ausstellung' and 'die Retrospektive' can both be a presentation of works of art. 'Ausstellung' is the general term and works for many topics and types of objects. 'Retrospektive' is more specific: it shows a look back at an artist's work to date, often with works from different periods. Learners may confuse the words because a retrospective is also an exhibition. If you only want to say that art or other objects are being shown, 'Ausstellung' is enough. If the overview of a life's work or a longer creative period is important, 'Retrospektive' is more precise.
In der Retrospektive sieht man Bilder aus allen wichtigen Phasen der Künstlerin.
In the retrospective, you can see pictures from all the important phases of the artist's career.
Die Klasse besucht heute eine Ausstellung über Fotografie.
The class is visiting an exhibition about photography today.