Darmstadt Art Association

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The Kunstverein Darmstadt e. V. in Darmstadt is a non-profit association dedicated to the mediation of contemporary art . It was founded in 1833, making it one of the oldest German art associations . The association is the sponsor of the Kunsthalle Darmstadt .

history

In 1833 Jakob Felsing founded the first Darmstadt art association in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse . In 1837, at Felsing's initiative, the association merged with the art associations in Mainz , Mannheim , Karlsruhe and Strasbourg to form the “Rheinischer Kunstverein”. Felsing became the first president of the entire association. This made larger exhibitions possible and annual gifts were developed. An annual art lottery brought in profits of up to 20,000 guilders at times. In 1887 the associations split up and in Darmstadt it was continued as the "Art Association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse". There were branches in Giessen , Mainz, Offenbach and Worms .

With the Kunsthalle am Rheintor , the association received its own exhibition building in 1884, in which contemporary art of the time was shown as well as applied art . The publisher Alexander Koch and the "Free Association of Darmstadt Artists (FVDK)" advertised the new ideas of Art Nouveau through the art association . After the First World War, work was continued under the name "Hessischer Kunstverein".

The association, which was subject to programmatic harmonization in the Third Reich, was re-established in 1946 as the “Neuer Hessischer Kunstverein” after the end of the Second World War . Since 1956 it has been called “Kunstverein Darmstadt e. V ". The first exhibitions of the art association took place in the Grand Ducal Picture Gallery. In 1944 the art gallery was destroyed in an air raid. After the Second World War, the American military government made space available in the Diesterweg School for the first post-war exhibitions . Until the new art gallery was built on Steubenplatz in 1957, the art association also presented its exhibitions in the Amerikahaus on Kasinostraße and in the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt .

The Darmstadt Art Association today

Since 1957 the Darmstadt Art Association has been located in the Darmstadt Art Gallery on Steubenplatz . The personnel and operating costs of the non-profit association are covered by a municipal grant, the contributions of the approx. 700 members, by donations and sponsoring. The director of the Kunsthalle Darmstadt is also the managing director of the Darmstadt Kunstverein.

The management of the art association since 1946

Chairperson

Directors / Managing Directors

literature

Kleinstück, Carola: 150 Years of the Kunstverein, Darmstadt 1987

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stadtlexikon Darmstadt, Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart, 2006, p. 534 f.