Launched as part of the cultural politics of the time, the Studio was founded in 1958, as the youth section of the Art Fund, as an institution to further the professional integration of recently graduated visual artists. The studio was dependent on the mother institution financially and bureaucratically, but it enjoyed partial autonomy through its elected board members. A unique rule – the upper age limit of 35 years – ensured the continuous revitalization of membership. Beginning in the 1970s, autodidacts were also admitted as members, which made it possible to integrate outsiders into the official artistic milieu, thus breaking the hegemony of the academy. This also meant an expansion of the accepted ways of working. The collection, which contains primarily the works of former members, illustrates the conflicts of artistic autonomy and centralized cultural politics so typical of the era.