The Lenbachhaus () is a building housing an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily co ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

's '' Kunstareal''.

The building

The Lenbachhaus was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter

Franz von Lenbach Franz Seraph Lenbach, after 1882, Ritter von Lenbach (13 December 1836 – 6 May 1904), was a German painter known primarily for his portraits of prominent personalities from the nobility, the arts, and industry. Because of his standing in society ...

between 1887 and 1891 by Gabriel von Seidl and was expanded 1927–1929 by Hans Grässel and again 1969–1972 by Heinrich Volbehr and Rudolf Thönnessen. Some of the rooms have kept their original design. The city of Munich acquired the building in 1924 and opened a museum there in 1929. The latest wing was closed to the public in 2009 to allow the expansion and restoration of the Lenbachhaus by Norman Foster; the 1972 extension was demolished to make way for the new building. The museum reopened in May 2013. The architect placed the new main entrance on Museumsplatz in front of the

Propylaea In ancient Greek architecture, a propylaea, propylea or propylaia (; Greek: προπύλαια) is a monumental gateway. They are seen as a partition, specifically for separating the secular and religious pieces of a city. The prototypical Gr ...

. The new facade, clad in metal tubes made of an alloy of copper and aluminum, will weather with time.

The gallery

The gallery contains a variety of works by Munich painters and contemporary artists, in styles such as the Blue Rider and New Objectivity.

Munich painters

Starting already with late Gothic paintings, the gallery displays masterpieces by Munich artists such as Jan Polack, Christoph Schwarz, Georges Desmarees (''Countess Holstein'' 1754), Wilhelm von Kobell, Georg von Dillis,

Carl Rottmann Carl Anton Joseph Rottmann (11 January 1797, in Handschuhsheim – 7 July 1850, in Munich) was a German landscape painter and the most famous member of the Rottmann family of painters. Rottmann belonged to the circle of artists around King Lud ...

(''Cosmic stormlandscape'' 1849), Carl Spitzweg (''Childhood Friends'', ), Eduard Schleich, Carl Theodor von Piloty, Franz von Stuck (''Salome'' 1906),

(''Self Portrait with His Wife and Daughters'' 1903), Friedrich August von Kaulbach, Wilhelm Leibl (''Veterinarian Reindl in the Arbor'' ), Wilhelm Trübner and

Hans Thoma Hans Thoma (2 October 1839 – 7 November 1924) was a German painter. Biography Hans Thoma was born on 2 October 1839 in Bernau in the Black Forest, Germany. He was the son of a miller and was trained in the basics of painting by a painter of ...

. Works by members of the Munich Secession are also on display. The group was founded in 1892, and includes artists such as the

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

painters Lovis Corinth (''Self-portrait with skeleton'' 1896), Max Slevogt (''Danae'' 1895) and

Fritz von Uhde Fritz von Uhde (born Friedrich Hermann Carl Uhde; 22 May 1848 – 25 February 1911) was a German painter of genre and religious subjects. His style lay in-between Realism and Impressionism, he was once known as "Germany's outstanding impression ...

German Schools of Painting and Barbizon

In 2012, the Christoph Heilmann Foundation, Munich, and the Lenbachhaus agreed to cooperate closely; in the process, around one hundred works were handed over to the Lenbachhaus. In addition to the Munich school of painting, the Dresden Romanticism and the Berlin school and the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the A ...

are also shown in characteristic individual examples; the first portrayal of Barbizon's painters in France is particularly important. The Lenbachhaus now has got a major work by

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

, who first appeared in 1851 in an exhibition in Munich next to paintings of

Théodore Rousseau Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (April 15, 1812December 22, 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school. Life Youth He was born in Paris, France in a bourgeois family. At first he received a basic level of training, but soon displaye ...

The Blue Rider

The Lenbachhaus is most famous for the large collection of paintings by Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group of

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

artists established in Munich in 1911 which included, among others, the painters Wassily Kandinsky (''Impression III (Concert)'' 1911), Gabriele Münter (''Still Life with St. George'' 1911),

Franz Marc Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc (8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of '' Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider), a journal whose name later ...

(''Blue Horse I'' 1911),

August Macke August Robert Ludwig Macke (3 January 1887 – 26 September 1914) was a German Expressionist painter. He was one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). He lived during a particularly act ...

(''Promenade'' 1913),

Marianne von Werefkin Marianne von Werefkin, born Marianna Vladimirovna Veryovkina ( rus, Мариа́нна Влади́мировна Верёвкина, Marianna Vladimirovna Veryovkina, mərʲɪˈanːə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə vʲɪˈrʲɵfkʲɪnə; – 6 Febr ...

(''Self Portrait I'' ),

Alexej von Jawlensky Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (russian: Алексе́й Гео́ргиевич Явле́нский, translit=Alekséy Geórgiyevich Yavlénskiy) (13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941), surname also spelt as Yavlensky, was a Russian expression ...

(''Portrait of the Dancer Alexander Sacharoff'' 1909), Alfred Kubin (''The Male Sphinx'' ), and

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

(''Föhn Wind in Franz Marc's Garden'' 1915). Münter donated 1,000 “Blue Rider” works to the museum on her 80th birthday.

New Objectivity

Artists of the New Objectivity like

Christian Schad Christian Schad (21 August 189425 February 1982) was a German painter and photographer. He was associated with the Dada and the New Objectivity movements. Considered as a group, Schad's portraits form an extraordinary record of life in Vienna a ...

(''Operation'' 1929) and Rudolf Schlichter (''

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

'' ) are exhibited in several rooms.

Contemporary art

The museum gives a very profound view of international contemporary art with works by Franz Ackermann, Dennis Adams, Christian Boltanski, Monica Bonvicini, James Coleman, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson,

Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer an ...

, Dan Flavin, Günther Förg,

Günter Fruhtrunk Günter Fruhtrunk (1 May 1923 – 12 December 1982) was a German geometric abstract painter and printmaker whose work relates to op art. Born in Munich, Fruhtrunk studied architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Munich, which he gave up a ...

Rupprecht Geiger Rupprecht Geiger (26 January 1908 – 6 December 2009) was a German abstract painter and sculptor. Throughout his career, he favored monochromicity and color-field paintings. For a time, he concentrated solely on the color red. Life and work G ...

, Isa Genzken, Liam Gillick, Katharina Grosse, Michael Heizer,

Andy Hope 1930 Andy Hope 1930 (born Andreas Hofer) is a German artist. Since 1998, most of his work has been signed "Andy Hope 1930" (although at that time the artist was still named Andreas Hofer).Barbara Fischer, ''Universum - Multiversum, Künstler Kritische ...

(Andreas Hofer), Jenny Holzer, Stefan Huber,

Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...

Anselm Kiefer Anselm Kiefer (born 8 March 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Peter Dreher and Horst Antes at the end of the 1960s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan h ...

, Michaela Melian, Gerhard Merz, Maurizio Nannucci,

Roman Opałka Roman Opałka (27 August 1931 – 6 August 2011) was a French-born Polish painter, whose works are mostly associated with conceptual art. Opałka was born on 27 August 1931 in Abbeville-Saint-Lucien, France, to Polish parents. The family retur ...

, Sigmar Polke,

Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer (born 8 December 1929) is an Austrian painter noted for his abstract informal art. Rainer was born in Baden, Austria. During his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism. In 1950, he founded the ''Hundsgruppe'' (''dog gro ...

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

, Michael Sailstorfer, Richard Serra,

Katharina Sieverding Katharina Sieverding (born 16 November 1944) is a German photographer known for her self-portraiture. Sieverding lives and works in Berlin and Düsseldorf. She is a professor emeritus at the University of the Arts, Berlin. Early life and educat ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, Georgia O'Keeffe, Lawrence Weiner and Martin Wöhrl, as well as artists of the Viennese Actionism. Art installations were added with the opening of the new building, such as a sculpture from Olafur Eliasson. The Lenbachhaus strengthened its investment especially in the oeuvre of Joseph Beuys considerably by acquiring numerous works of art, such as ''Zeige deine Wunde'' (''Show your wound'') 1974/75. Young artists are promoted in exhibitions in the affiliated Kunstbau above the Subway Station Königsplatz. Stephanie Weber curated a solo show of Mark Boulos and film series of Charles Simonds and Christoph Schlingensief, all the while commissioning performances by Tom Thayer and C. Spencer Yeh and adding to the collection works by Vito Acconci,

and Martha Rosler, and worked on a retrospective of Polish-born feminist artist Lea Lublin that opened in summer 2015. On 26 July 2017 a legal battle over a Paul Klee painting titled ''Swamp Legend'' (1919), seized by Nazis as "degenerate" art in the 1930s, reached a settlement:

Gallery

File:Macke, August - Promenade - Google Art Project.jpg, August Macke, ''Promenade'' File:Macke, August - Türkisches Café - Google Art Project.jpg, August Macke, ''Türkisches Café'' File:Marc, Franz - Blue Horse I - Google Art Project.jpg, Franz Marc, ''Blue Horse'' File:Marc, Franz - Deer in a Monastery Garden - Google Art Project.jpg, Franz Marc, ''Deer in a Monastery Garden'' File:Marc, Franz - The Tiger - Google Art Project.jpg, Franz Marc, ''The Tiger''

Provenance Research

The Lenbachhaus systematically checks the provenance of artworks created before 1945 that entered the collection after 1933. In addition to the examination of the museum's own collection holdings, preliminary reviews of possible new acquisitions, assumptions of permanent loans, or endowments also take place. The Lenbachhaus is one of several German museums that are researching the art collector

Carl Heumann Carl Heumann (19 March 1886 – 5 March 1945) was a German art collector persecuted by the Nazis because of his Jewish origins. Early life Carl Heumann was born on 19 March 1886 in Cologne to Jewish parents. He converted to Protestantism in 191 ...

(1886–1945), who after building in the 1920s and 1930s an important collection of prints of German and Austrian art of the 18th and 19th centuries, was persecuted because of his Jewish origins under the National Socialist regime. The Lenbachhaus approached Carl Heumann's descendants in order to find a just and fair solution regarding the artworks from his collection.

References

External links

Lenbachhaus websiteLenbachhaus
within

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

* {{Authority control Modern art museums in Germany Buildings and structures in Munich Historicist architecture in Munich Art museums and galleries in Munich Maxvorstadt