Kunsthalle Bielefeld
TheKunsthalle Bielefeldis a modern and contemporary art museum inBielefeld, Germany.It was designed byPhilip Johnsonin 1968, and paid for by the businessman and art patronRudolf August Oetker.[1]
Collection and exhibitions[edit]
Initiated in 1950 with a donation by Oetker and gradually expanded from 1954 with municipal acquisitions, the collection focuses onExpressionism,international sculpture, and contemporary art.[2]The permanent collection features a wide array of 20th-century art, including paintings byPablo PicassoandMax Beckmann,works by theBlaue Reitergroup and movements centred onLászló Moholy-NagyandOskar Schlemmer,and more recent art from the 1970s and '80s. The museum stands in asculpture gardenfeaturing works byAuguste Rodin,Henry Moore,Richard Serra,Ólafur Elíassonand other modern sculptors.
At the 50thVenice Biennalein 2003, the Kunsthalle presented the documentary "Ilya und Emila Kabakov: Die Utopische Stadt. 1997-2003", which was on permanent display in the "Utopia Station Now!". As part of its series of exhibitions of important museum collections of twentieth- and twenty-first-century art, theBundeskunsthalle Bonnpresented »The Unknown Bielefeld Collection« in 2011.[3]
The Kunsthalle also hosts temporary exhibitions to complement the permanent collection. Recent examples have been devoted toEmil Nolde,Rirkrit Tiravanija,[4]and the locally born artistPeter August Böckstiegeltogether withConrad Felixmüller.The 1991 exhibition "Picasso's Surrealism: 1925–1937", one of five internationally renowned Picasso exhibitions in 1984, 1988, 1993, and 2011,[5]attracted 67,000 visitors;[6]an exhibition in 2007–08, featuring art from 1937 in a variety of styles, had 47,000.[citation needed]
The museum also offers guided tours, teaching activities for children, and a library.
Architecture[edit]
The museum is located on the south-west edge of Bielefeld'sold town.It was built in 1968 by the American architectPhilip Johnsonin theInternational Stylethat he had founded, and is his only museum building in Europe. Johnson had been invited by the museum's directorJoachim Wolfgang von MoltkeandRudolf August Oetkerin 1966. In 1994,Frank O. Gehryproposed an extension to the existing building; it was never realized. The museum was refurbished in 2002.
Cubic in shape and with a square ground level, it has three storeys above ground, two below,[7]and a total exhibition space of 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft). The facade is of redsandstone.
Naming dispute[edit]
When he endowed the building,Rudolf Oetkerexpressed a desire for it be called theRichard-Kaselowsky-Haus,after his stepfather.[1]Richard Kaselowskywas a controversial figure in Bielefeld due to his Nazi past, including membership in not only theNSDAPbut also theFreundeskreis der Wirtschaft.[1][8]This led to a debate in Bielefeld,[1]coinciding with the generalsocial unrest of 1968and becoming a major theme of it. The composerHans Werner Henzecancelled the piano concert he had written for the inauguration, and the Minister-President ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia,Heinz Kühn,excused himself from the ceremony along with two federal ministers. This led to the event, with 1,200 invitees, being completely cancelled[9]– but the city council stuck to its choice of name. The "silent" opening on 27 September 1968 was accompanied by protests.[7][10]A memorial to Kaselowsky, commemorating him as a victim of the heavy aerial bombing of September 1944, was only removed in 2017.[1]
In the following years, the Kunsthalle ceased using the controversial part of its name in public.[10]The discussion was revived in 1998 when the then-director,Thomas Kellein,sought to strengthen ties with the Oetkers and resurrected the Kaselowsky name. After the attempt to reach an uncontroversial solution failed, the city council changed the name to simplyKunsthalle Bielefeld,[1]whereupon Rudolf Oetker ended his support and withdrew all the works that he had loaned to the collection.[8][11]
Management[edit]
The Kunsthalle's current director is Friedrich Meschede (since 2011). Former directors includeThomas Kellein(1996–2011), Ulrich Weisner (1974–1996), Joachim Wolfgang von Moltke (1961–1974), and Gustav Vriesen (1954–1961).
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
Further reading[edit]
Hans-Jörg Kühne:Bielefeld '66 bis '77: wildes Leben, Musik, Demos und Reformen.Bielefelder Beiträge zur Stadt- und Regionalgeschichte, vol. 21. Kiper, 2006, Bielefeld.ISBN3-936359-15-6.(in German)
Notes[edit]
- ^abcdef27. September 1968: Das „Richard-Kaselowsky-Haus – Kunsthalle der Stadt Bielefeld "wird eröffnetArchived26 October 2018 at theWayback MachineBernd J. Wagner. City ofBielefeld.(in German)
- ^Arp, Beckmann, Munch, Kirchner, Warhol … Classics in Bonn - The Unknown Collection from Bielefeld, 28 January–27 March 2011Archived9 May 2009 at theWayback MachineArt and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn.
- ^The Unknown Collection: Classics from the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 10 July – 4 September 2011Kunsthalle Bielefeld.
- ^Kunsthalle Bielefeld widmet Rirkrit Tiravanija eine sehenswerte AusstellungStefan Brams,Neue Westfälische,8 July 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2010.(in German)
- ^Picasso 1905 in Paris, 25 September 2011 – 15 January 2012Kunsthalle Bielefeld.
- ^Kunsthalle Bielefeld: Ausstellungshaus von internationalem RufArchived3 March 2016 at theWayback Machinebielefeld-marketing.de.(in German)
- ^abKunsthalle Bielefeld (10 / 02)art-in.de. 7 October 2002. Retrieved 16 September 2010.(in German)
- ^ab„Das Thema ist erledigt "Karl-Heinz Steinkühler,Focus,23 November 1998. Interview with Rudolf August Oetker. Retrieved 16 September 2010.(in German)
- ^Affären / Oetker: Was für ein MannDer Spiegel,30 September 1968. Retrieved 16 September 2010.(in German)
- ^abVon Tätern und Wohltätern: Zur Umbenennung der Kunsthalle BielefeldWorld Socialist Web Site,2 December 1998. Retrieved 16 September 2010.(in German)
- ^Man nehme Dr. OetkerMichael Westphal,Berliner Zeitung,10 November 1998. Retrieved 16 September 2010.(in German)
