Mannheim Art Association
The Mannheimer Kunstverein was founded in 1833 and is one of the oldest German art associations . With currently over 750 members, it is one of the larger art associations. The name also stands for the exhibition building at the Augustaanlage .
history
The history of the Kunstverein reflects the history of Mannheim over the past 175 years. The Mannheimer Kunstverein was founded on October 6th, 1833 as an association of around 112 members of the Mannheim city society and artists of the visual arts. Among the board members was the architect Rudolf Tillessen (1857–1926). The first president of the newly founded art association was the then Mannheim governor Carl Freiherr von Stockhorn. At that time membership cost around 2 guilders and 40 kreuzers.
Showrooms
The association, a registered association since 1900, had its exhibition rooms in Mannheim Palace until 1911 when it moved to the Kunsthalle, which was newly founded as a museum in 1909 . After many conflicts between the Kunsthalle and the Kunstverein, the Mannheimer Kunstverein got its own exhibition space for the first time in 1926, the former school church in square L1, 1. This was completely destroyed by bombs on September 5 and 6, 1943. The first exhibition of the post-war period took place in November 1950 in the palace. On September 28, 1966, the new exhibition building planned by the architect Theo Pabst for the Kunstverein was opened with 450 m² of usable space on Carl-Reiss-Platz, Augustaanlage 58.
Membership movement
In the first five years after it was founded, the number of members rose to over 1,000. After the revolution of 1848/49 this halved within five years. Thereafter, the number of members slowly increased again to almost 1,000 members during the 60 years up to the First World War in 1914. During the Weimar Republic , the Kunstverein experienced the fastest membership growth since it was founded, to over 1700 members. With National Socialism , the most drastic slump in history followed to 300 remaining members during the National Socialist dictatorship. During the Second World War there was no club life. On September 28, 1950, eleven members of the pre-war association met for a constituent meeting and decided to continue the association. Until the 1960s, membership hardly rose above the pre-war level. Only with the opening of the new exhibition house in 1966 did a lively art association and rapid growth begin again.
Today the art association is supported by approx. 780 members, the city of Mannheim and sponsors. The exhibition director is the art historian Martin Stather .
activities
Since it was founded more than 175 years ago, the primary concern of the Mannheimer Kunstverein has been to promote current and young art in exhibitions and to make it accessible to a wide audience. Around twelve exhibitions, both by regional and international young and established artists, are shown in the exhibition rooms every year. In addition to regular art tours and art trips, the association's program also includes concert events, readings and other cultural offers.
literature
- Festschrift: 150 years of the Mannheim Art Association . Mannheim 1983.
- Festschrift: 160 years of the Mannheim Art Association . Mannheim 1993.
- Annual program 2007
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ferdinand Werner : Mannheim villas. Architecture and home decor in the squares and the east town . With contributions by Andreas Schenk and Tobias Möllmer = contributions to Mannheim's architecture and building history Volume 6. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2009. ISBN 978-3-88462-289-6 , p. 303.