Museum Brandhorst

Beschreibung

In the Kunstareal of Maxvorstadt in München, the Museum Brandhorst integrates the collection of Udo and Anette Brandhorst for modern and contemporary art into the urban context. The house is located north of the Türkentor and is directly adjacent to the Pinakothek der Moderne. A state ceremony marked the inauguration on 18 May 2009; the public opening followed on 21 May 2009. The museum is overseen by the Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen.

On the site of the former Türkenkaserne a building was erected with around 3,200 m² of exhibition space and a total usable area of approximately 5,300 m². The façade is composed of 23 shades from three colour families; 36,000 vertically arranged ceramic rods in front of the concrete walls create optical effects that change with the viewing angle and conceal a perforated, folded sheet‑metal panel that contributes to noise control. The compact building mass is divided into a two‑storey longitudinal wing and a higher head building to the north, connected by a continuous band of windows. Behind the glazed entrance façade lies a generous foyer with the museum ticket desk. The building was financed by the Freistaat Bayern; costs amounted to about 47 million euros. High energy efficiency is planned through heat pumps, the use of warmed groundwater via heat exchangers, and thermal activation of building components for temperature regulation. In 2015 the supreme audit office criticised unresolved construction defects, an unsatisfactory daylight control system and a higher energy consumption than planned.

The exhibition rooms are distributed over three levels. On the upper floor are the largest halls, with up to 450 m² of space and a ceiling height of around 9 metres; floors and staircases are of solid, light oak, and the walls are kept white. Translucent textile light ceilings ensure an even distribution of daylight, to which the house generally gives preference over artificial lighting. A polygonal hall was specially designed for the Lepanto‑Zyklus, whose twelve large‑format paintings are shown in a broad semicircle. Smaller, staggered rooms on the ground floor create surprising sightlines; daylight here is admitted via reflectors and side skylights. From the lounge on the upper floor there is a distinctive view of the Pinakotheken.

The collection comprises over 700 works, with a focus on artists who have been influential since 1945. Outstanding is the extensive presence of Cy Twombly: more than 200 works, including paintings, sculptures, works on paper and photographs, make this the largest Twombly collection in Europe; Twombly’s Lepanto‑Zyklus from 2001 occupies an entire floor. Andy Warhol follows in scope with over 100 acquired works. Other positions in the holdings range from Joseph Beuys and Sigmar Polke to Damien Hirst, John Chamberlain, Bruce Nauman and Eric Fischl. In 2011 the foundation also presented a display of artist’s books and an exhibition of photographs related to Twombly.

The collectors began building their holdings in the 1970s, initially with works of Classical Modernism and later with targeted acquisitions from the West German and American contemporary scene. In 1993 the collections were transferred to a foundation in order to make the collection publicly accessible; since then focal areas, particularly American art from the 1960s to the 1990s, have been systematically expanded. The museum’s founding followed negotiations in the course of which the Freistaat took over construction and operation, while the foundation contributed capital of 120 million euros; annual funds for acquisitions are drawn from this endowment. The agreement grants the foundation decision‑making authority over exhibitions and acquisitions, while the public authorities hold a minority position on the foundation board.

Both before and after the opening the professional public voiced criticism of the collection and of the publicly financed founding of the museum; discussions focused on the stylistic heterogeneity of the holdings, possible overlaps with the Pinakothek der Moderne and the political dimension of the financing. Educational programmes run in cooperation with the visitor service of the Pinakotheken and the Münchner Volkshochschule.