Jetsettersblog

This year, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is celebrating its 25th anniversary, while the Museum of Modern Art is turning twenty. What’s more, the New Städel, the German Film Museum and the German Architecture Museum will all be reopening their doors in 2011 after extensive expansion and reconstruction.

Frankfurt, 07 March 2011(tcf). Initially conceived as an event venue for large-scale travelling exhibitions, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt soon began to present its own art shows, which were then sent around the world for further display. The latter aspect is particularly interesting when one considers that the Schirn does not in fact own its own collection and is therefore not able to offer partner museums items on loan in return. “An art hall such as the Schirn [...] should not disguise itself as a “temporary” museum in terms of thematic orientation, scenical design or art-historical perspective. Rather, the objective of the Schirn should be to focus on unusual themes and to present the œuvres of important artists from a contemporary perspective,” states Max Hollein, director of the Schirn since 2001.

Prominent names, like Alberto Giacometti, Edvard Munch, Paul Klee, Marc Chagall and Max Beckman, and celebrated exhibitions, such as “Shopping” and “Female Impressionists”, have helped to turn the Schirn into an internationally renowned art institution. Having originally opened its doors to the general public on 28th February 1986, the Schirn today offers an excellent service spectrum that includes guided tours in foreign and sign language as well as tours and activities for children and families, thereby providing visitors diverse opportunities to enjoy the many aspects and pleasures of contemporary art.

The name of Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is derived from the history of its geographical location. In the local dialect, the term refers to an open sales booth. Until the end of the Second World War, a street of the same name ran along the Schirn’s current site, accommodating the stalls of Frankfurt’s butchers well into the 19th century. It was in the mid-1980s that the architect’s office of Bangert, Jansen, Scholz & Schultes planned and constructed the building complex that now occupies the former marketplace. Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt was founded during the culturally flourishing era stretching from the 1970s to the 1990s. The museum had one of its greatest promoters in the then head of the City of Frankfurt’s cultural department, Hilmar Hoffmann, who was also instrumental in the rise to significance of Frankfurt’s museum embankment.

There is much to discover in the Schirn’s anniversary exhibition, “Surreal Objects”, which deals exclusively with three-dimensional art. Never before has this art form been presented so comprehensively. It guarantees to surprise visitors with its bizarre yet highly interesting exhibits.

The Museum of Modern Art Frankfurt am Main, meanwhile, ranks amongst the world’s leading museums of contemporary art. Being only twenty years old, the museum is today one of the absolute highlights of the international museum landscape. The museum, a shining example of post-modern architecture, plays a significant role in the cultural and social life of Frankfurt am Main. It was designed by the Viennese architect Hans Hollein, the father of Max Hollein, the present-day director of the Schirn. The museum’s unique layout was obviously greatly influenced by the shape of the property it was built on. The interior, on the other hand, was influenced more by the nature of the museum’s planned programme, its functional necessities and the desire to present to visitors unique exhibitions amidst an equally unique setting. With the Museum of Modern Art, which is referred to by Frankfurt locals and fans of post-modern architecture as the “cake slice”, Hollein created an architectonic masterpiece. He was able to establish on a three-sided piece of land a triangular structure so uniquely designed that a walk through the museum is quickly turned into an unforgettable experience. Few visitors would be able to imagine the interior of the museum by looking at its exterior. With such a unique structural layout, it is no wonder that not one of the nearly forty rooms of the Museum of Modern Art is like the next, thereby making a visit an astounding architectonic as well as artistic experience. A true balance of power presides here – the visitor perceives the architecture by way of the museum’s art, and the museum’s art by way of the architecture.

The museum’s current collection comprises over 4,500 works of international art, ranging from the 1960s to present day. Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella and Joseph Beuys are just some of the artists on show at the Museum of Modern Art. The quality, variety and incomparable profile of the collection set it apart from the collections of other museums. The current special exhibition, entitled “The Lucid Evidence. Photography of the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art”, offers an overview of the museum’s extensive photo archive. Featuring some 700 photos, this exhibition represents a cross-section of the museum’s collection, focusing on figurative works from the late 1950s to present today. Elaborately produced scenes, such as those photographed by Jeff Wall, are as much a part of this exhibition as images taken in conflict-affected areas around the world.

Both exhibition venues are part of the Frankfurt Museum Embankment, a wonderfully diversified cultural landscape consisting of some 26 museums. This unique boulevard features 13 museums set side by side like pearls on a string, including time-honoured establishments such as the Städel Art Institute and the Municipal Gallery, together known simply as the Städel. The Städel presents works of European artists from the 13th to the 20th centuries, featuring such famous names as Dürer, Elsheimer, Rembrandt and Botticelli. It has been undergoing comprehensive reconstruction and expansion since February 2008. The project, overseen by the Frankfurt architect’s office of schneider+schumacher, will provide the Städel with a further 3,000 square metres of exhibition space, all underground. With the completion of the imposing ceiling structure in November 2010, one was able to realise for the first time what an impressive new venue was being created beneath the gardens of the Städel Museum. The elegantly curved ceiling characterises the interior of the hall, forming the architectural centrepiece of this impressive structure. Once reconstruction has been completed, the entire museum will be handicapped accessible. In the meantime, with the Städel undergoing such extensive reconstruction, many works of the museum’s collection have gone on tour around the world. Two recent tours included stops in Lausanne, Melbourne, Rome and Tokyo, for example.

The grand opening of the extension, which will be home to the museum’s collection of post-1945 art, is scheduled for autumn 2011. An important exhibition entitled “Beckmann and America” will open on 07th October, focusing on the later works of the famous European painter. This exhibition will be particularly significant to Frankfurt am Main, for it was here that Beckmann lived and worked from 1915 to 1933, having also taught at the Städel during this time. Various items on loan from international collections – such as his series of lithographs on America, entitled “Day and Dream”, sketches, drawings and paintings, including three of his most significant triptyches from Washington and New York – highlight the broad spectrum of his work.

The German Film Museum Frankfurt am Main, also currently under reconstruction, will soon be home to a brand-new permanent exhibition. The interior of the museum, which first opened 25 years ago, is being completely redesigned. Exhibition space will increase by thirty percent, reaching some 1,900 square metres. The third floor, which also offers magnificent views of Frankfurt’s skyline, will in future be hosting special exhibitions. Official reopening is scheduled for Summer 2011.

Reconstruction is also going on at a number of other exhibition venues along the museum embankment. Work is currently in progress at the House of Bible, the German Architecture Museum, the historical museum frankfurt and the Museum of World Cultures. All of these museums will be reopening successively over the next few years.

The remaining museums along and near the museum embankment are all open for business as per usual. Next to the Städel, for example, one finds the Liebieghaus. At home in a former villa, this museum presents a superb sculpture collection. The next cultural establishment along the embankment is the Museum of Communication Frankfurt. It houses a number of interesting collections and documents highlighting the history of modern communication from the 17th century to present day.

Further jewels of this rich museum landscape include, among others, Museum Giersch, the caricatura museum frankfurt and the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, one of the world’s leading natural science research institutes. The Museum of World Cultures/Gallery 37, meanwhile, provides excellent insights into foreign cultures. Right next door, Richard Meier, the famous New York architect, created the “white house upon the Main”, the architectural jewel in the crown of the museum embankment. It is the 1985 extension of Villa Metzler, the home of the Museum of Applied Arts, originally built in 1804.

With the Goethe-House and the Goethe Museum, Frankfurt has of course also paid tribute to its favourite and most famous son. Goethe’s birthplace, returned to its original condition, offers a highly interesting look at how a typical bourgeois family lived during the 18th century.

As you can see, there is plenty to discover along Frankfurt’s museum embankment. And this year, there’ll also be plenty to celebrate as well!