The Hamburger Kunsthalle is the art museum of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the largest museums in the country. The name 'Kunsthalle' indicates the museum's history as an 'art hall' when founded in 1850. Today, the Kunsthalle houses one of the few art collections in Germany that covers seven centuries of European art, from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Kunsthalle's permanent collections focus on North German painting of the 14th century, and paintings by Dutch, Flemish and Italian artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German drawings and paintings of the 19th century, and international modern and contemporary art. The Kunsthalle consists of three connected buildings, dating from 1869, 1921 and 1997, located in the Altstadt district, between the Hauptbahnhof and the two Alster lakes.
History
The Kunsthalle has its origins in 1849, when established and opened a year later as 'Städtische Gallerie' by the Hamburg Kunstverein, which was founded in 1817. The collection grew quickly, and it soon became necessary to provide a building. The original red brick Kunsthalle was built from 1863 to 1869, designed by architects Georg Theodor Schirrmacher and Hermann von der Hude, and financed largely through private donations. The first director became the art historian and educator Alfred Lichtwark. His successor during the interwar period was Gustav Pauli, who also oversaw the completion of the Kuppelsaal extension, the Kunsthalle's first annex, designed by Fritz Schumacher and erected between 1914 and 1921. In 1994, one painting of the Kunsthalle was involved in the so-called Frankfurt art theft. While on loan to the Kunsthalle Schirn in Frankfurt, the painting Nebelschwaden by Caspar David Friedrich was stolen. After negotiations with the thieves, a lawyer bought back the painting; when the Kunsthalle refused to pay him the agreed "consideration", he sued and won. In 1997, the Kunsthalle received, the 'Galerie der Gegenwart', a extension, designed by Cologne architect Oswald Mathias Ungers and dedicated to the Kunsthalle's contemporary art collections. The cubic building sits on a monolithic base at a prominent location in close proximity to the Binnenalster.
Collections
The Kunsthalle is divided into four different sections: the Gallery of Old Masters, the Gallery of 19th-century Art, the Gallery of Classical Modernism and the Gallery of Contemporary Art. The highlights of the collection include the medieval alters of Master Bertram and Master Francke, 17th-century Dutch paintings, works of early to mid 19th century German Romanticism, and collections of impressionism and classic modernism. The Kunsthalle Museum is also known for its international contemporary art collections and exhibitions, which include post-1950 Pop Art, conceptual art, video art and photography.
The Hamburg Kunsthalle continuisly carries out temporary exhibitions on contemporary and historic art, in addition to its constant rotation of temporary exhibitions. Yearly there are on average 20 special exhibitions.
