Sprengel Museum is a museum of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Lower Saxony, holding one of the most significant collections of

in Germany. It is located in a building situated adjacent to the Masch Lake () approximately south of the state museum. The museum opened in , and the building, designed by Peter and Ursula Trint (of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

) and Dieter Quast (of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

), was extended in 1992. Bernhard Sprengel donated his extensive collection of modern art to the city of Hanover in 1969, as well as financially supporting the construction of the museum. The city of Hanover and the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

agreed to operate the museum jointly. In addition to the works donated by Sprengel, the museum also houses 20th century artworks owned by Lower Saxony and Hanover.

Expansion

A further expansion, designed by

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

-based architects Meili + Peter, was originally planned for 2010 but Hannover steht zur Erweiterung des Sprengel Museums
Ronald Meyer-Arlt, '' Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung'', 4 August 2010. The

cuboid In geometry, a cuboid is a hexahedron with quadrilateral faces, meaning it is a polyhedron with six Face (geometry), faces; it has eight Vertex (geometry), vertices and twelve Edge (geometry), edges. A ''rectangular cuboid'' (sometimes also calle ...

design of the new building was chosen from 65 entrants in an international architecture competition. The original plan would have created an extra of exhibition space, and was expected to cost around €25million, with €10M coming from Lower Saxony's EU funding, €5M directly from Lower Saxony, €5M from the city of Hanover, and €5M expected from donors. These estimates have since been reduced. A major objective of the expansion is to allow extensive coverage of Niki de Saint Phalle and the Hanoverian artist

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but lived in exile from 1937. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dadaism, Constructivism (a ...

. The new building will also be used for one-off international exhibitions.

Works

Besides Schwitters and de Saint Phalle, the Sprengel Museums's key works include those of

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

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 wi ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

, Emil Nolde, and

Max Beckmann Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, drawing, draftsman, printmaker, sculpture, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the m ...

from before 1945. It also has a monument depicting the crimes of serial killer Fritz Haarmann. In 1988, the museum inherited the estate of the artists and married couple Robert Michel and Ella Bergmann-Michel. The museum publishes a printed inventory of this estate, of which two volumes have so far been published. Since 1993, the Sprengel Museum has contained the Kurt Schwitters Archive, of which the Merz Room is particularly notable. In 2000, Niki de Saint Phalle became an honorary citizen of Hanover and subsequently donated 300 of her works to the museum.

Restitution of Nazi-looted art

in June 2000, the museum voted to return the Lovis Corinth painting ''The Walchensee on St John's eve'' () to the heirs of Gustav Kirstein and his wife Therese Clara Stein, who were persecuted by Nazis because of their Jewish heritage.

References

External links

*
Kurt and Ernst Schwitters Foundation
{{Authority control Art museums and galleries established in 1979 Museums in Hanover Art museums and galleries in Germany Biographical museums in Germany Modern art museums in Germany Culture of Lower Saxony 1979 establishments in West Germany