Large-scale exhibition of German avant-garde art on the occasion of a donation

Museum Wiesbaden receives private collection from Wiesbaden and honors the commitment of its patrons starting on September 5

As the anniversary year draws to a close, a large-scale exhibition on “Classical Modernism” at Museum Wiesbaden tells the story of its collection. At the same time, the 105 works of art (paintings and sculptures) trace the key stages in the development of the German avant-garde: from expressive Impressionism at the beginning of the century to German Expressionism with its influential artist groups in Munich and Berlin, and finally to the New Objectivity tendencies of the 1920s and 1930s. The occasion for the show is an important private collection in Wiesbaden, which was bequeathed to the museum on the occasion of its anniversary and is now being presented to the public for the first time from September 5, 2025, to April 26, 2026, under the title „Feininger, Münter, Modersohn-Becker … Or, How Art Finds Its Way into the Museum“. This high-caliber collection will be placed in relation to previous significant donations (Heinrich Kirchhoff 1915–1933, Hanna Bekker vom Rath 1987, and Frank Brabant 2018), highlighting the fact that the Hessian State Museum in Wiesbaden has become one of the leading museums for Expressionism in Germany and beyond almost exclusively due to extraordinary civic engagement.

On the occasion of the museum's 200th anniversary, a private collector from Wiesbaden decided to make public his testamentary donation of his important art collection. The collection, which comprises around 100 works, focuses on artists associated with the “Neue Künstlervereinigung München” (New Artists' Association Munich) (including Erma Bossi, Adolf Erbslöh, Alexej von Jawlensky, Alexander Kanoldt, Marianne von Werefkin) and the “Blauer Reiter” (Blue Rider) (Elisabeth Epstein, Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter) and the artist group “Brücke” (Erich Heckel, Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff) as well as New Objectivity (including Josef Scharl, Georg Schrimpf, Ilona Singer). In addition, there are a large number of sculptures and plastic arts (including Ernst Barlach, August Gaul, Gerhard Marcks, Milly Steger, and Louise Stomps). An exceptionally high percentage of the works are by female artists.

The exhibition „Feininger, Münter, Modersohn-Becker…“ now presents a selection of 50 works from this “new” collection for the first time. This is being done in combination with 45 earlier donations in order to highlight how precisely it not only fits in with the museum's existing holdings, but also significantly enriches them.

“The milestones in the history of the ‘Classical Modernism Department’ at the Museum Wiesbaden, ” says curator Dr. Roman Zieglgänsberger, „are collections that have been donated or promised to us, such as those of Hanna Bekker vom Rath or Frank Brabant – the current bequest announced in the will, which includes major works by Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, and Lyonel Feininger, can be classified in exactly this way: It complements and enriches the existing collection in the most exquisite way.“

Collectors and museums maintain contact, and in some cases, patrons even coordinate their collections with the museum's holdings. This has enabled private collectors to fill gaps in their collections through acquisitions on the art market – a stroke of luck for the Hessian State Museum. The exhibition tour shows how the donations are interlinked, what relationships the artists had with each other, and in which networks they operated – whether well-known ones such as “Der Blaue Reiter” and the “Brücke” association, or previously less obvious connections between the artists.

Of the more than 100 paintings on display, only ten were purchased by the museum itself from its own budget. The majority of the exhibits came to the museum through donations – or will do so in the future – such as the Frank Brabant Collection or the currently announced donation from the Wiesbaden patron, both of which are stipulated in wills. The exhibition not only provides insights into the museum's history and explains the reasons behind the acquisitions, but also offers a glimpse into the future of what the “Classical Modernism Department” of the Museum Wiesbaden will one day look like.

Behind everything that developed in Wiesbaden after the Second World War, however, is a special collection which, with its approximately 800 works, can be considered on a par with Karl Ernst Osthaus's collection. The starting point for classical modernism at the museum was the notorious avant-garde collection of the private collector Heinrich Kirchhoff (1874–1934), which began around 1910 and was intended as a donation to the Museum Wiesbaden, but today represents a sensitive gap because it did not come to fruition due to the cultural policies of the National Socialists. Nevertheless, this collection, whose works are now scattered among the world's most important museums (including the MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Salomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York), remains a constant point of reference for the Museum Wiesbaden's collection activities. Hanna Bekker vom Rath, for example, frequently visited Heinrich Kirchhoff in his city villa (Beethovenstraße 10) between 1918 and 1927, gradually developing into a networker and art dealer, while Frank Brabant acquired his first work of art in 1964 from Hanna Bekker's Frankfurt art cabinet. One thing led to another, resulting in the museum's collection appearing like an organism that has grown naturally over decades, which can only exist in Wiesbaden.

“Being able to present this high-caliber announced donation for the first time in the year of the museum's 200th anniversary and thus make it public, ” says Director Dr. Andreas Henning, “is certainly a highlight in the museum's long history. Such a precise collection, tailored to a museum and peppered with major works of avant-garde paintings and sculptures, is a rare stroke of luck – for which we owe our sincere thanks to the generous patron, who wishes to remain anonymous.”

Hesse's Minister President Boris Rhein is the patron of the exhibition.

A catalog of the same name (edited by Roman Zieglgänsberger for the Museum Wiesbaden) has been published by Imhof Verlag, 185 pages, €34 at the museum ticket office, ISBN 978–3–7319–1512–6). A free media tour in the MuWi app accompanies the show.

The exhibition was supported by the Friends of the Museum Wiesbaden e.V.,

ARTE and Hr2 are cultural partners of the exhibition.

Tickets
Special exhibitions: €12 regular / €9 reduced (the ticket also includes admission to all other special and permanent exhibitions)
Free admission for children and young people under 18. Free admission for school classes and educational groups including 2 supervisors.