PINAKOTHEK DER MODERNE

Description

Essentials about the Pinakothek der Moderne in brief

The Pinakothek der Moderne (Pinakothek of the modern age) is not a single museum, but unites four independent museums under one roof, covering four different art disciplines in a unique installation: The Sammlung Moderne Kunst (for art), the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München (for graphics), the Architekturmuseum der TU München (for architecture) and the Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum (for design). All those interested in all forms of contemporary art are in the right place here. Together with the neighboring Alte Pinakothek (Old Pinakothek) and Neue Pinakothek (New Pinakothek) and several other museums and exhibition spaces, the Pinakothek der Moderne is part of Munich’s art realm.

The history and the architecture of the Pinakothek der Moderne

The Pinakothek der Moderne is housed in a modern building designed by architect Stephan Braunfels on a former barracks site. The museum opened its doors to the public in 2002. Inside the white structure made of exposed concrete, two large staircases lead from the double-shell rotunda at the center of the building to the collections. The design collection is located in the basement, while the first floor houses exhibition rooms for the architecture collection, the graphics collection and temporary exhibitions. The west wing of the upper floor houses the collection of classical modern art, while the east wing houses the collection of contemporary art.

The collection of the Pinakothek der Moderne only came into being after the Second World War through donations, bequests and acquisitions. In 1950, the museum’s basic stock consisted of a total of only seven works of art. Only gradually did the collection of modern art grow to its current size and importance through targeted acquisitions and, above all, through permanent loans and donations from private collections.

Sammlung Moderne Kunst

The Sammlung Moderne Kunst (Collection of Modern Art) shows works of art of classical modernism and contemporary art. All directions of modern art are represented here, such as Expressionism, Futurism, Fauvism, Cubism, New Objectivity, Bauhaus, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and Minimal Art. Of the now more than 3,000 works, only a selection can be presented in the 35 halls of the Pinakothek der Moderne. In addition to paintings and sculptures, the collection also owns important works from the fields of new media, photography and video.

The list of artists represented in the collection reads like a who’s who of the international art scene: Henri Matisse, Oskar Kokoschka, Salvador Dalí, Max Beckmann, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Jaspar Johns, Robert Rauschberg, Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Arnulf Rainer and Neo Rauch are just some of the stars represented with works in the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München

The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München (Munich State Collection of Prints and Drawings) comprises around 400,000 sheets from all periods of the art of drawing and printmaking from the 15th century to the modern age. It can already be traced back to the collections of the Bavarian ruling dynasty of the Wittelsbach dynasty, in particular the copperplate engraving and drawing cabinet of Elector Karl Theodor. The collection suffered severe losses during the Second World War, but together with the collections in Berlin and Dresden it has remained the most important in Germany.

The focus is on old German and Dutch drawings and prints (including works by Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt), Italian drawings (including those by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci), 19th-century German drawings and international modernist prints, for example by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee and David Hockney. Only temporary exhibitions are shown because of the sensitivity of the artworks to light.

Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum

The Neue Sammlung (New Collection) is one of the world’s leading design museums and its permanent exhibition is the first to show the history and development of design and applied art from around 1900 to the immediate present. It is the largest collection worldwide for industrial design. In particular, holdings on vehicle design, computer culture, jewelry design, everyday objects and furniture are on display.

Architekturmuseum der TU München

With a stock of over 500,000 drawings and plans as well as a large number of models of more than 700 architects, the collection of the Architekturmuseum der TU München (Museum of Architecture of the TU Munich) is the largest of its kind in Germany and shows temporary exhibitions from its rich holdings, such as drawings, designs and models of renowned architects from Johann Balthasar Neumann and François de Cuvilliés to Gottfried Semper, Le Corbusier or Günter Behnisch. In addition, there are computer animations and films.

The Museum Shop and the Museum Café

After completing your tour of the Pinakothek der Moderne, you should definitely visit the excellently stocked museum store. Between publications on several artists and art movements, art prints, design objects and souvenirs of all kinds, many a museum visitor has spent more time here than in the exhibitions themselves. And those who need a little refreshment after such a high dose of modern art will find it in the museum café Qivasou 48|8, which is housed in an attractive winter garden complete with bamboo trees in front of an 18-meter-high glass façade.