Feininger, Münter, Modersohn-Becker ... Or how art gets into the museum
The exhibition "Feininger, Münter, Modersohn-Becker ... Or how art comes to the museum", which can be seen at the Museum Wiesbaden from September 5, 2025 to April 26, 2026, tells the eventful story of the Museum Wiesbaden's collection of classical modernism, which has been built up over more than 100 years.
As the anniversary year draws to a close, a large-scale exhibition on "Classical Modernism" at the Museum Wiesbaden tells the story of its collection. At the same time, the 105 works of art trace the key steps in the development of the German avant-garde: from expressive Impressionism at the beginning of the century, through German Expressionism with its formative artist groups in Munich and Berlin, to neo-Objectivist tendencies in the 1920s and 1930s.
Occasion: Donations to the museum
The occasion for the show is an important private collection from Wiesbaden, which was promised to the museum in the will on the occasion of its anniversary and will now be presented to the public for the first time from September 5, 2025 to April 26, 2026 under the title "Feininger, Münter, Modersohn-Becker ... Or how art comes into the museum".
This top-class collection will be placed in relation to previous important donations (Heinrich Kirchhoff, Hanna Bekker vom Rath or Frank Brabant), emphasizing that the Hessisches Landesmuseum Wiesbaden has become one of the leading museums for Expressionism in Germany and beyond almost exclusively due to an extraordinary civic commitment.
Brücke, Blauer Reiter & Neue Künstlervereinigung München
On the occasion of the museum's 200th anniversary, a private collector from Wiesbaden decided to make public the donation of his important art collection that he had announced in his will.
The collection, which comprises around 100 works, focuses on artists from the circle of the "Neue Künstlervereinigung München" (including Erma Bossi, Adolf Erbslöh, Alexej von Jawlensky, Alexander Kanoldt and Marianne von Werefkin), the "Blaue Reiter" (Elisabeth Epstein, Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter) and the "Brücke" group of artists (Erich Heckel, Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff) as well as the New Objectivity (including Josef Scharl, Georg Schrimpf, Ilona Singer).
There are also a large number of sculptures and sculptures (including Ernst Barlach, August Gaul, Gerhard Marcks, Milly Steger, Louise Stomps). An unusually high percentage of the works are by women artists.
A selection of 50 works from this "new" collection will be presented for the first time in the exhibition. This is being done in combination with 45 earlier donations in order to show how harmoniously they not only fit in with the museum's existing holdings, but also significantly enrich them.
The Hessian Minister President Boris Rhein is the patron of the exhibition.