Kunsthalle Mannheim

Description

On Friedrichsplatz in Mannheim, the Kunsthalle Mannheim plays a central role in the city's cultural life and is dedicated to modern and contemporary art.

The original Art Nouveau building, with red sandstone and a dome‑crowned central section, is set slightly back from the edge of the square; its T‑shaped floor plan and façade design correspond to the surrounding buildings. Since its opening in 1907 as part of Mannheim's city jubilee, the institution has undergone several structural extensions: a large addition from the 1980s and later alterations increased the exhibition space, and a comprehensive new building section was handed over to the city at the end of 2017. The reopening in June 2018 took place with a photographic presentation. Parts of the historic building were comprehensively renovated between 2010 and 2013; certain structural elements, however, remained challenging in terms of construction and were not fully barrier‑free.

The collection was founded through generous financial contributions and bequests, including a substantial legacy containing works by Feuerbach and Spitzweg. In the 1920s an exhibition played a decisive role in shaping the term New Objectivity, after which significant acquisitions of modern art followed. During the Nazi era there were expropriations and losses: numerous paintings, sculptures and graphic works were seized, partly auctioned and ended up in international museums. After the end of the war, holdings could be partly restituted and, following the restoration of the buildings, were shown again from 1949. In the ensuing years collection gaps were closed and the sculpture collection was systematically expanded. At the beginning of the 21st century the chronological presentation was revised in favour of thematic hangings and the inclusion of photography and video art; at the same time new spatial concepts such as the Mannheimer Schausammlung with twelve themed rooms were developed.

The collection today comprises around 2,150 paintings, about 840 sculptures as well as approximately 33,000 sheets of drawings, watercolours and prints, and an applied arts department. In addition to paintings ranging from Édouard Manet to Francis Bacon, the holdings include works by important 19th‑ and 20th‑century artists, among them Friedrich, Manet, Cézanne, Kokoschka, Munch, Macke, Dix, Beckmann, Grosz and Bacon. The sculpture collection contains international testimonies of the 20th century and displays works by Rodin, Lehmbruck, Moore, Marini, Giacometti, Serra and many others; since the 1930s works of contemporary sculpture have also been presented in the sculpture garden. The Graphic Collection places its emphases on drawings of Romanticism and Classicism, New Objectivity and sculptors' drawings; it also comprises European prints from the 15th to the 18th centuries, including sheets by Dürer and Rembrandt.