Museum Brandhorst

Museum Brandhorst

Museum Brandhorst in Munich, 2008
General information
Type Modern Art Museum
Location Munich, Germany
Address Theresienstraße 35a
D 80333 München
Coordinates 48°8′53″N 11°34′27″E / 48.14806°N 11.57417°E / 48.14806; 11.57417Coordinates: 48°8′53″N 11°34′27″E / 48.14806°N 11.57417°E / 48.14806; 11.57417
Design and construction
Architecture firm Sauerbruch Hutton

The Brandhorst Museum was opened in Munich on May 21, 2009. It displays about 200 exhibits from collection of modern art of the heirs of the Henkel trust Udo Fritz-Hermann and Anette Brandhorst. In 2009 the Brandhorst Collection comprises more than 700 works.

History

Anette Brandhorst, the great-granddaughter of Henkel’s founder, and her husband Udo Fritz-Hermann began collecting art in 1971.[1] When Anette died of cancer in 1999, her husband Udo donated the collection to the state of Bavaria on the proviso that the state build it a fitting home.[2] The construction costs of $67 million were funded by Bavaria.[1]

The building

The building with its long, two-storey, rectangular structure and multi-coloured facade composed of 36,000 vertical ceramic louvres in 23 different coloured glazes, was created by Sauerbruch Hutton architects and is located next to the Pinakothek der Moderne in the Kunstareal. The building has three exhibition areas which are connected by stairs. All galleries (with the exception of the Media Suite) have white walls and wooden floorboards of Danish oak.

Collection

The museum displays a comprehensive selection of about 100 works of Andy Warhol (Hammer and sickle, 1976, The Last Supper, 1986) and more than 60 works of Cy Twombly, making it the largest Twombly collection outside the US.[3] The monumental series by Twombly, titled Lepanto, refers to a naval battle in 1571 between the Ottoman and Holy League forces. One of the museum's rooms, an irregular octagon, was created specifically to house the Lepanto cycle, a painting in 12 parts.[2]

Also other modern artists like Joseph Beuys, Mario Merz, Jannis Kounellis, Georg Baselitz, Francesco Clemente, Gerhard Richter, Bruce Nauman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mike Kelley, Sigmar Polke, John Chamberlain, Robert Gober, Eric Fischl, Alex Katz and Damien Hirst are represented:

Works on paper by Kasimir Malevich, Kurt Schwitters and Joan Miró and others also belong to the Brandhorst collection.

The museum also houses a collection of 112 illustrated books of Pablo Picasso since Udo and Anette Brandhorst were not only interested in the fine arts, but also in literature.

Newer acquisitions include a video work by Isaac Julien, Western Union: Small Boats and the installation Large Red Sphere by Walter De Maria in the nearby Türkentor.

Brandhorst foundation

Additionally, there exists in 2009 an impressive endowment of €120 million ($167 million). The interest accruing on it allows an annual acquisition budget of more than €2 million, much more than any other collection in Munich.

References

  1. 1 2 Lindsay Pollock (November 10, 2009), Henkel Heir, Mistress Settle Suit on $48 Million in Two Hirsts Bloomberg.
  2. 1 2 Jonathan Glancey (June 4, 2009), Do not adjust your art gallery The Guardian.
  3. ↑ Rita Pokorny (June 24, 2009 ), Brandhorst Museum opens in three-day festival of pomp
  4. ↑ Carol Vogel (November 11, 2004), A Second Night of Records in Contemporary Art Prices New York Times.
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