Museum Gunzenhauser
Encyclopedia
The Gunzenhauser Museum is a museum
and art gallery
located in Chemnitz
; third largest city of Saxony, Germany
. It contains 2,459 works by 270 modern
artists of the 20th century that have been collected by the art dealer Dr. Alfred Gunzenhauser. The Gunzenhauser Museum was inaugurated in December 2007 in the presence of the German President
Horst Köhler
and is one of the most important museums of Modern Art in Germany.
style as the former headquarter of the Sparkasse Chemnitz (Savings and loan association of Chemnitz) and was one of the first high-rise buildings in Chemnitz. Fred Otto (1883–1944), head of the municipal planning and building control office between 1925 and 1944, purposely abandoned decorative elements and used bright, beige-coloured travertine
for the facades. Thus, the building shows its balanced proportions and clear structure to good effect. The building's aesthetic centre is the former tills' hall, which is lighted by a glass roof. During the renovation, the architect Volker Staab took advantage of the existing building's potential and minimized the use of structural addition and interventions.
. The exhibition consists of works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
, Erich Heckel
and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
. They attended school in Chemnitz and participated in the expressionist group Die Brücke
. The museum also contains the second largest collection of works by Alexej von Jawlensky
and Gabriele Münter
, who were members of Der Blaue Reiter
. There are works of several other artists like Christian Rohlfs
, Paula Modersohn-Becker
and Helmut Kolle
. Furthermore, the museum has pictures of Max Beckmann
drawn in the 1930s and 1940s. From the Weimar Republic
period there are works by Karl Hubbuch
, Franz Radziwill, Alexander Kanoldt
, Georg Schrimpf
and Gustav Wunderwald. 110 paintings originate from Conrad Felixmüller
. The exhibition's centrepiece is the largest collection of 290 pieces by Otto Dix
. The first self portrait drawn with oil in 1912, early paintings from the period of the art college in Dresden
(Dresdner Kunstgewerbeschule
), important Aquarelles und Gouache
s from the period of the First World War as well as considerable works of the 1920s and the late work. From the period after the Second World War many works originate from Willi Baumeister
, Fritz Winter, Ernst Wilhelm Nay
, Bernard Schultze
and Emil Schumacher
as well as from Karl Hofer
, Johannes Grützke, Horst Antes
, Klaus Fußmann
, Karl Horst Hödicke and Rainer Fetting
.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
located in Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
; third largest city of Saxony, Germany
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. It contains 2,459 works by 270 modern
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
artists of the 20th century that have been collected by the art dealer Dr. Alfred Gunzenhauser. The Gunzenhauser Museum was inaugurated in December 2007 in the presence of the German President
President of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
and is one of the most important museums of Modern Art in Germany.
Building's history
The museum's building was constructed between 1928 and 1930 in the New ObjectivityNew Objectivity (architecture)
The New Objectivity is a name often given to the Modern architecture that emerged in Europe, primarily German-speaking Europe, in the 1920s and 30s. It is also frequently called Neues Bauen...
style as the former headquarter of the Sparkasse Chemnitz (Savings and loan association of Chemnitz) and was one of the first high-rise buildings in Chemnitz. Fred Otto (1883–1944), head of the municipal planning and building control office between 1925 and 1944, purposely abandoned decorative elements and used bright, beige-coloured travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
for the facades. Thus, the building shows its balanced proportions and clear structure to good effect. The building's aesthetic centre is the former tills' hall, which is lighted by a glass roof. During the renovation, the architect Volker Staab took advantage of the existing building's potential and minimized the use of structural addition and interventions.
Exposition
The collection's main component are numerous works of ExpressionismExpressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
. The exhibition consists of works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th century art. He volunteered for army service in the First World War, but soon suffered a...
, Erich Heckel
Erich Heckel
Erich Heckel was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the Die Brücke group which existed 1905-1913.-Biography:Heckel was born in Döbeln . His parents were born in Saxony...
and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, and a member of Die Brücke.-Life and work:...
. They attended school in Chemnitz and participated in the expressionist group Die Brücke
Die Brücke
Die Brücke was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, after which the Brücke Museum in Berlin was named. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller...
. The museum also contains the second largest collection of works by Alexej von Jawlensky
Alexej von Jawlensky
Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky was a Russian expressionist painter active in Germany. He was a key member of the New Munich Artist's Association , Der Blaue Reiter group and later the Die Blaue Vier .-Life and work:Alexej von Jawlensky was born in Torzhok, a town in Tver...
and Gabriele Münter
Gabriele Münter
Gabriele Münter was a German expressionist painter who was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century. Artists and writers associated with German Expressionism shared a rebellious attitude toward the materialism and mores of German imperial and bourgeois society...
, who were members of Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, August Macke and...
. There are works of several other artists like Christian Rohlfs
Christian Rohlfs
Christian Rohlfs was a German painter, one of the important representatives of German expressionism....
, Paula Modersohn-Becker
Paula Modersohn-Becker
Paula Modersohn-Becker was a German painter and one of the most important representatives of early expressionism. In a brief career, cut short by an embolism at the age of 31, she created a number of groundbreaking images of great intensity.-Life and work:Paula Becker was born and grew up in...
and Helmut Kolle
Helmut Kolle
Helmut Kolle was a German painter who found major success in France in the 1920s, fusing German modernist style with the more refined elegance of French painting....
. Furthermore, the museum has pictures of Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...
drawn in the 1930s and 1940s. From the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
period there are works by Karl Hubbuch
Karl Hubbuch
Karl Hubbuch was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman associated with the New Objectivity.Hubbuch was born in Karlsruhe. From 1908 to 1912, he studied art at the Karlsruhe Academy, where he formed friendships with fellow students Georg Scholz and Rudolf Schlichter...
, Franz Radziwill, Alexander Kanoldt
Alexander Kanoldt
Alexander Kanoldt was a German magic realist painter and one of the artists of the New Objectivity.Kanoldt was born in Karlsruhe. His father was the painter Edmond Kanoldt, a late practitioner of the Nazarene style...
, Georg Schrimpf
Georg Schrimpf
Georg Schrimpf , was a German painter and graphic artist. Along with Otto Dix, George Grosz and Christian Schad, Schrimpf is broadly acknowledged as a main representative of the art trend Neue Sachlichkeit , which developed in the 1920s as a counter-movement to Expressionism and Abstraction...
and Gustav Wunderwald. 110 paintings originate from Conrad Felixmüller
Conrad Felixmüller
Conrad Felixmüller was a German Expressionist painter. Born in as Conrad Felix Müller, he chose Felixmüller as his nom d'artiste....
. The exhibition's centrepiece is the largest collection of 290 pieces by Otto Dix
Otto Dix
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of Weimar society and the brutality of war. Along with George Grosz, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit.-Early life and...
. The first self portrait drawn with oil in 1912, early paintings from the period of the art college in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
(Dresdner Kunstgewerbeschule
Kunstgewerbeschule
A Kunstgewerbeschule was the old name for an advanced school of applied arts in German-speaking countries. The first such schools were opened in Kassel in 1867 and Berlin and Munich in 1868 with other German towns following. They are now merged into universities....
), important Aquarelles und Gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
s from the period of the First World War as well as considerable works of the 1920s and the late work. From the period after the Second World War many works originate from Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister was a German painter, scenic designer, art professor, and typographer.-Life:Willi Baumeister, born in Stuttgart in 1889, completed an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in his native city from 1905 to 1907, followed by military service...
, Fritz Winter, Ernst Wilhelm Nay
Ernst Wilhelm Nay
Ernst Wilhelm Nay was a German abstract painter influenced by L'Art Informel.Ernst Wilhelm Nay studied under Karl Hofer at the Berlin Art Academy from 1925 until 1928. His first sources of inspiration resulted from his preoccupation with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Henri Matisse as well as Caspar...
, Bernard Schultze
Bernard Schultze
Bernard Schultze was a German painter who co-founded the Quadriga group of artists. In 1955, he married another painter named Ursula Bluhm....
and Emil Schumacher
Emil Schumacher
Emil Schumacher German painter, important representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany....
as well as from Karl Hofer
Karl Höfer
Karl Höfer was a German officer. During World War I he became known as the Held vom Kemmelberge for his actions at the Kemmelberg....
, Johannes Grützke, Horst Antes
Horst Antes
Horst Antes is a German artist and sculptor.After his Abitur, he studied from 1957 to 1959 under the important woodcutter HAP Grieshaber at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe.In 1959, the artist's work was honoured with two prizes, art prize of the city of...
, Klaus Fußmann
Klaus Fußmann
Klaus Fußmann , is a contemporary German painter.Fußmann was born in Velbert, Germany. He studied from 1957 to 1961 at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and from 1962 to 1966 at the Berlin University of the Arts. From 1974 to 2005, he was a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts...
, Karl Horst Hödicke and Rainer Fetting
Rainer Fetting
Rainer Fetting is a German painter and sculptor.Rainer Fetting was one of the co-founders and main protagonists of the Galerie am Moritzplatz in Berlin, founded in the late 1970s by a group of young artists from the class of Karl Horst Hödicke at the former Berliner Hochschule für Bildende...
.