The art association in Bremen

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The art association in Bremen is one of the oldest art associations in Germany. It was founded in 1823 and has been the private sponsor of the Kunsthalle Bremen since 1849 . With over 9,000 members, the art association in Bremen is by far the art association with the largest number of members in Germany.

history

Founded in 1823

Hieronymus Klugkist

The art association in Bremen was founded on November 14, 1823 at the initiative of Senator Hieronymus Klugkist in the Museum am Domshof . Among the 34 founding members of the association were eleven senators, 16 merchants as well as some syndici , professors, doctors and lawyers. The aim of the association was enshrined in the laws of the art association , the first two paragraphs of which read as follows:

“The purpose of the Kunstverein in Bremen is to spread and train the sense of the beautiful. He limited himself to the fine arts. "

Initially, the association was a closed society limited to 50 (later 75) members, which limited itself to viewing its own art collections. As early as 1824, however, the association changed its statutes with the aim of building up its own collection: "The association will endeavor to gradually collect art and make this collection accessible." The foundation of the collection was made up of foundations and legacies from the private property of the members of the association, many of which - like Klugkist, Johann Heinrich Albers and Georg Heinrich Olbers  - were art collectors themselves.

The financial resources of the association were very good thanks to the Klugkist Foundation set up by the initiator, and in the year it was founded it was already 120  thalers . The use of the capital was precisely regulated, so half should be used for the purposes of the association, the other half to increase the assets. The association received additional funds from the membership fees, which were set relatively high at 5 thalers a year and in the first few years strengthened the tendency that the association was composed almost exclusively of the city's political and commercial elite.

19th century

In 1829 the association organized a first art exhibition with 153 works by Old Masters  - mostly Dutch painting from the 17th century - in the scholarly school in the cathedral chapter hall on Domsheide . The second exhibition with a similar focus followed in 1833. The third exhibition took place after a long break in 1843 in the rooms of the Union of 1801 , with 559 pictures by contemporary painters it exceeded the previous events three times. A printed catalog was also published for the first time on the occasion of the exhibition. The public interest was considerable, 538 season tickets and 7,951 single tickets were sold - however, “[…] only decently dressed people were admitted” and “Children under 10 years of age [were] not allowed to enter.” In the same year, the admission restriction was abolished and the The number of club members soon rose to over 500.

In the following years exhibitions were organized every two years, cooperating with other northern German art associations. Above all, contemporary works by the Düsseldorf School were shown . Some of the exhibited works were always offered for sale, which brought the association considerable income. In addition, the association organized lectures and picnics to which artists were invited, as well as raffles for works of art for its members.

The Kunstverein's own collection grew only slowly in the early years and its focus at the beginning was on drawings and prints (which form the basis of today's Kupferstichkabinett in the Kunsthalle) - in 1833 the association owned only 13 paintings but 585 hand drawings and 3917 prints. However, the pictures in the collection included very valuable works of art, such as the Madonna and Child (1423) by Masolino da Panicale , which the painter and art collector Johann Bäse had donated to the Kunstverein in 1832.

View of J. Bremermann's first art gallery from 1849

Between 1847 and 1849 the first art gallery was built , based on a design by Lüder Rutenberg at the Ostertor. The basic inventory of the Kunsthalle was built up from the collections of the members of the Kunstverein.

In conjunction with the Bremen Senate , a municipal benefit was set up between 1830 and 1850 , which was designated as a support fund for young scholars and artists . A senatorial committee in connection with the art association decided on the granting of this scholarship . In the period of its existence, the scholarship was granted to Heinrich Wilhelm Hampe , Leberecht Grabau , Johannes Duntze and Amalie Murtfeldt .

In the second half of the 19th century, the Kunstverein's holdings grew significantly through several large donations and bequests, in 1851 through the Klugkist collection of old German art, including numerous works by Dürer and Altdorfer , in 1853 through the private collection of Johann Heinrich Albers with 19 oil paintings and 15,000 graphic sheets and in 1885 through the collection of Melchior Hermann Segelken with 6,000 woodcuts . In addition, there was a donation of 300,000 marks for the “acquisition of oil paintings by outstanding artists” from the estate of Eugen Kulenkamp. From this sum, pictures by Lovis Corinth , Gustave Courbet , Camille Pissarro and Max Slevogt were acquired. A first inventory catalog of the collection, which was compiled by Wilhelm Hurm in 1892 , already listed 172 paintings, 47 watercolors and 18 sculptures. In 1899 the Association of Friends of the Art Gallery was founded , whose members supported new acquisitions with an annual contribution of 100 marks.

20th century

At the turn of the 20th century, the need to enlarge the art gallery became clear. An extension was made possible by a donation from Carl Schütte for a total of 400,000 marks and further donations from Joseph Hachez and Hermann Melchers for 100,000 marks each. This took place from 1899 to 1902 based on a joint design by Albert Dunkel and Eduard Gildemeister . From 1904 to 1906 the facade of the old building was redesigned with sandstone cladding and friezes by Georg Roemer .

In 1904, the director of the North German Lloyd Heinrich Wiegand founded the gallery association , which was supposed to promote the acquisition of modern art with annual contributions of 500 to 1000 marks; it lasted until 1940. In the same year, the Kunstverein received financial support from the Senate for the first time in recognition of the importance of the Kunsthalle as the city's public museum. In 1905, Hermann Henrich Meier the Younger donated his graphic collection of almost 100,000 sheets to the association.

Caricature on the Bremen art dispute with Arthur Fitger as Don Quixote

At the same time as the expansion of the Kunsthalle, a scientific director of the collection was appointed for the first time, Gustav Pauli , who was already on the board of the Kunstverein. Pauli reorganized the exhibitions, promoted the scientific processing of the collection and founded the yearbook of the Bremen art collections . His purchasing policy represented a significant change in that he shifted the focus from the Old Masters to avant-garde art, including works by the then largely unknown Worpswede painters and Impressionist art from France. In 1908 he organized the first solo exhibition by Paula Modersohn-Becker in the Kunsthalle and 1911 he bought the poppy field from Vincent van Gogh to. This realignment of the collection led to a nationwide controversy - the so-called " Bremen Artists' Dispute " - in which Arthur Fitger and later Carl Vinnen (the latter himself was on the board of the Kunstverein) positioned themselves as dedicated opponents of Pauli. Pauli was supported by Alfred Walter Heymel , Rudolf Alexander Schröder and Leopold Biermann, among others .

In 1914 Emil Waldmann was appointed director of the art gallery. He further expanded the collection of Impressionist art, but also bought expressionist art, including works by Max Beckmann , Schmidt-Rottluff , Oskar Kokoschka and Max Slevogt. After the First World War , the Kunstverein got into a difficult financial situation, caused by the loss of the Klugkist and Kulenkamp foundations. In order to preserve the collection, a state contract was signed with the Senate in 1926, which included an annually recalculated subsidy towards the staff and management costs of the art gallery. In return, the art association undertook to preserve and look after the art collections owned by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

From 1933 the Kampfbund for German Culture in Bremen demanded the nationalization of the Kunsthalle and accused Waldmann of a one-sided preference for French art, which the latter was able to invalidate. In 1934 the long-time chairman of the art association Hermann Apelt had to resign, who was replaced by school councilor Castens, who sought to bring the art gallery into line. He promoted “Heimatkunst” and provided the hall with expressionist art with the sign “Foreigners and Modernity”. As a result, 31 paintings and 120 prints were also confiscated as “ degenerate art ”, and other works were brought to the depot. In the 1930s, the transfer of the estate of Friedrich Lahmann (1858–1937) to the Kunstverein with 639 drawings, 3,627 prints and 45 paintings was particularly positive . The art gallery remained closed during the Second World War and the collection was moved to various locations. Some of it was looted by Soviet troops at the end of the war, which led to significant losses, which, along with those of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Dresden art collections, are among the largest in a German museum.

After the war, Rudolf Alexander Schröder became provisional director of the Kunsthalle with the approval of the US occupation forces, and in 1950 he became honorary chairman of the Kunstverein and handed over management to Günter Busch . Museum operations could only be resumed slowly - war damage and the use of part of the building as America House initially severely limited the exhibition options. Busch continued the line of Pauli and Waldmann and tried to close the gaps left by National Socialist censorship and the war losses, which was only possible to a limited extent due to the financial situation. Busch set a focus by purchasing several works by Paula Modersohn-Becker, but he was also able to acquire an important work for the collection from Max Liebermann, Parrot Avenue. In 1959, the Senate's support for the Kunsthalle was established in a new state treaty.

Another focus of Günter Busch's work until 1984 was sculpture . With a donation from the sculptor Kurt Reutti and his wife, in 1967 and 1975, in addition to numerous prints, 13 sculptures by Ernst Barlach came to the Kunsthalle. Due to his personal friendship with Gerhard Marcks , the Kunstverein became the third founder of the Gerhard Marcks House in 1969 , the Bremen Museum for Sculpture in the immediate vicinity of the Kunsthalle.

To promote young art, some members of the art association founded the support group for contemporary art in 1971 . B. acquired works by Gerhard Richter or Jerry Zeniuk for the collection. The Kunstverein received further donations, especially in the anniversary year 1973 on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. Under Rolf Speckmann, who took over the chairmanship of the Kunstverein in 1977, an extension for the Kunsthalle was built by 1984, which provided space for temporary exhibitions, offices, a café and a lecture hall. There was also a museum shop, which is run by members of the art association on a voluntary basis and which has proven to be an important source of income. In 1985, the Bremen Art Prize was initiated by a group of donors in the Kunstverein , which replaced the Böttcherstrasse art prize that had existed from 1954 to 1983 .

As the successor to Günter Busch, Siegfried Salzmann took over the management of the Kunsthalle in 1985 . At the same time, Rudolf Blaum was elected to succeed Rolf Speckmann as chairman of the Kunstverein. This initially had to struggle with the association's debt of 3.3 million  DM , which had arisen as a result of the renovation of the art gallery. In autumn 1986 it was agreed with the city that the art association would have to finance a portion of 1.8 million DM for debt relief through the sale of works from the collection. In 1993 the last debts were finally settled. Other holdings were sold in order to relieve the overcrowded depots in the Kunsthalle, in which proper storage of the works of art was no longer guaranteed. A total of 139 paintings with "time-bound artistic significance" were sold. Subsequently, parts of the old building and the depot were renovated and a temperature control system was installed to control the room climate.

Due to the tight financial situation of the art association and the reduced subsidies from the city, Salzmann was only able to make moderate purchases for the collection. He mainly focused on contemporary art - e. B. by Nikolaus Lang or Heinz Mack . In 1987 the art association founded the magazine Punkt on the initiative of Salzmann . Art in the northwest . In the early 1990s, Salzmann worked hard to bring back the art that was stolen towards the end of the war. With the help of the former Russian officer Victor Baldin, some of the works were located in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg . An agreement on the restitution of this so-called Baldin collection with around 360 valuable drawings is still pending.

In 1993 Siegfried Salzmann retired. The following year Wulf Herzogenrath became the new director of the Kunsthalle. Also in 1994 Georg Abegg took over the chairmanship of the association from Rudolf Blaum, who became honorary chairman. The association managed to raise more than DM 7 million in donations for the further renovation of the art gallery. After the state and federal government each gave the same amount, the renovation work was carried out under the direction of the Bremen architect Wolfram Dahms . In the course of the measures, four new halls on the top floor were opened up, a spacious entrance area was created and Herzogenrath acquired two installations by Nam June Paik and John Cage . Thanks to a foundation, works by Richard Oelze also came into the collection. Through a series of successful special exhibitions such as those on Toulouse-Lautrec , Liebermann , Monet and Modersohn-Becker , Herzogenrath was able to attract national audiences.

present

In the winter of 2008, the expansion of the art gallery began, based on designs by the Berlin architecture firm Hufnagel Pütz Rafaelian. The extension on the east side, built in 1982, was demolished for this purpose and two six-storey symmetrical extensions were built. This increased the exhibition area by a third. In addition, the building technology was renewed and the depots and restoration workshops renovated in order to meet the requirements of international lenders and insurance companies. As with the previous renovation, the art association, state and federal government shared the costs of 33 million euros in equal parts. The art association's share came from donations from the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation and the Friedrich Lürßen and Peter Lürßen families. In August 2011 the art gallery was reopened after a construction period of around two years.

Today the art association in Bremen has over 9,000 members. According to the laws of the Kunstverein in the version of July 1, 2008, the association defines its objectives as follows:

“The purpose of the association is to promote art and to stimulate and spread the sense of art in Bremen. In order to achieve the purpose of the articles of association, the association administers and increases its own and entrusted possession of works of fine art in the sense of a public art collection. In addition, exhibitions, lectures, guided tours and publications are held. The association is selflessly active; it does not primarily pursue economic purposes. The association's funds may only be used for statutory purposes. The members do not receive payments from the association. No person may be favored by expenses that are alien to the purpose of the association or by disproportionately high remuneration. "

In 2014 Bernd Schmielau took over the board of directors of the art association from Georg Abegg, who was retiring.

The support group for contemporary art

The aim of the promotion group for contemporary art in the Kunstverein, founded in 1971, is to promote the purchase and procurement of contemporary art in Bremen. For this purpose, its approximately 100 members support the purchase of contemporary art and its presentation in the art gallery, organize lectures, gallery visits and study trips.

Bremen Art Prize

The Bremen Art Prize was initiated in 1985 by a group of donors in the Kunstverein and with the support of the Sparkasse Bremen as a follow-up to the Böttcherstrasse art prize that existed from 1954 to 1983 . The award is given every two years to an artist living in the German-speaking area “who has not yet received such a public appreciation that corresponds to the quality of [his] works.” The winner is selected by a jury of ten Artists selected who are invited by a proposal committee to an exhibition in Bremen. Various works by the award-winning artists have been acquired by the donors for the Kunsthalle's collection in the past.

Chairperson

Selection of known chairmen:

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Andreas Schulz: Guardianship and protection. Elites and citizens in Bremen 1750–1880 . R. Oldenbourg, Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-486-56582-9 , pp. 387-390 .
  2. ↑ a b c The Art Association in Bremen - History - The Beginnings (1823–1847). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; Retrieved February 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunsthalle-bremen.de
  3. ↑ Fine arts and their audience in the 18th and 19th centuries . In: Wiltrud Ulrike Drechsel, Heide Gerstenberger , Christian Marzahn (eds.): University of Bremen. Contributions to the social history of Bremen . Issue 10. Bremen 1987, ISBN 3-88722-149-4 , p. 178 .
  4. ↑ a b Wulf Herzogenrath, Ingmar Laehnemann (ed.): Noble guests. Masterpieces from the Kunsthalle Bremen are guests in 22 German museums . Hachmannedition, Bremen 2009, ISBN 978-3-939429-58-6 , pp. 9 .
  5. ↑ Fine arts and their audience in the 18th and 19th centuries . In: Wiltrud Ulrike Drechsel, Heide Gerstenberger, Christian Marzahn (eds.): University of Bremen. Contributions to the social history of Bremen . Issue 10. Bremen 1987, ISBN 3-88722-149-4 , p. 202-205 .
  6. ↑ Wulf Herzogenrath, Ingmar Lähnemann (ed.): Noble guests. Masterpieces from the Kunsthalle Bremen are guests in 22 German museums . Hachmannedition, Bremen 2009, ISBN 978-3-939429-58-6 , pp. 10 .
  7. ^ The Art Association in Bremen - History - Emil Waldmann (1914–1945). Retrieved February 25, 2013 .
  8. ↑ a b The Art Association in Bremen - History - Siegfried Salzmann (1985–1993). Retrieved February 25, 2013 .
  9. ^ Kunsthalle Bremen: "... we are building!" - Kunsthalle closed for two years. Working Group of Independent Cultural Institutes eV - AsKI, 2009, accessed on February 25, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Kunsthalle Bremen. In: Baunetz knowledge. Retrieved February 25, 2013 .
  11. ↑ Museum attracts first with shell construction. In: NWZ online. June 20, 2011, accessed February 25, 2013 .
  12. ^ The art association in Bremen. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 6, 2011 ; accessed on May 20, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunsthalle-bremen.de
  13. ^ The art association in Bremen - laws of the art association. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 18, 2013 ; Retrieved February 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunsthalle-bremen.de
  14. ↑ Bremer Kunstverein elects new board. (No longer available online.) In: Radio Bremen. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; accessed on August 2, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.radiobremen.de
  15. ↑ Bremen Art Prize and Art Prize of Böttcherstraße in Bremen 1985–2009. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 18, 2013 ; Retrieved February 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunsthalle-bremen.de

literature

  • Wulf Herzogenrath , Ingmar Laehnemann (Hg): Noble guests. Masterpieces from the Kunsthalle Bremen are guests in 22 German museums. Hachmannedition, Bremen 2009, ISBN 978-3-939429-58-6 .
  • Wiltrud Ulrike Drechsel, Heide Gerstenberger , Christian Marzahn: Fine arts and their audience in the 18th and 19th centuries . University of Bremen, Contributions to the social history of Bremen, Issue 10, Edition Temmen, Bremen 1987, ISBN 3-88722-149-4 .

Web links