The Kunstmuseum Bonn or Bonn Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Bonn, Germany, founded in 1947.[1] The Kunstmuseum exhibits both temporary exhibitions and its collection. Its collection is focused on Rhenish Expressionism and post-war German art. It is part of Bonn's "Museum Mile".
Architecture
The present building, which opened in 1992,[2] was created by the BJSS firm (Axel Schultes) and Jürgen Pleuser at a cost of about DM-100 million. It has three entrances, symbolising openness. The design of the staircase has been described as a "precise geometry, cut like jewellery. The conception of light brings the collection to life."[3] The total exhibition area is around 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft).[4]
The prints collection, featuring around 5,000 works from the 20th and 21st centuries,[5] includes so-called "multiples" by Beuys, illustrated books by Max Ernst, and printed graphics from the Bolliger Collection.
The Videonale festival of contemporary video art, now based at the Kunstmuseum, has taken place biennially in Bonn since 1984.[7]
New direction
Interior view.
In 2005, the museum sold the former Grothe Collection to a married pair of collectors, the Ströhers, for €50m.[8][9] This triggered a wide-ranging set of changes to the permanent exhibition, beginning in 2007, described by the incoming director Stephan Berg as a "certain rejuvenation".[10] The works on the way out included Degenerate Art by Sigmar Polke and Assisi Cycle by Gotthard Graubner. Their place was taken by the work of younger artists. Some of the sculptures in front of the building were also acquired by the Ströhers.
^Kunstmuseum Bonn"...die Treppe gestaltet [Axel Schultes] als eine präzise, juwelierartig geschnittene Geometrie. Die Lichtkonzeption bringt die Sammlung zum Leben." International Chamber of Russian Modernism. (in German)