Art in Hesse

But also in-between the cycles of the documenta Hesse regularly shows an internationally acknowledged programme. More that often the art devoted audience is spoilt for choice by the rich offers of Hesse’s museums, galleries and other exhibition places as well as by Hesse’s artists; this does not only apply for the various museums at the Museumsufer in Frankfurt.

Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel

The centralisation of the Museumslandschaft Kassel may be regarded as the most ambitious project in the beginning 21st century. The establishment of the museumslandschaft hessen follows the about 600 years long tradition of collecting, preserving and forming. Over the centuries princely collectionism and the will to representation accumulated manifold and considerable art treasures still residing unmodified at their historic sites.

Hesse’s state museums

But also the other state museums hold world-famous collections. The Museum Wiesbaden is subdivided into three sections. The art collection is praised for its exquisite expressionistic stock and the works of the Russian painter Alexej von Jawlenksi. The natural historic collection and the collection of Nassau antiquities complete the triumvirate. The founding of the initially three museums can be traced back to the citizens of Wiesbaden and to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who stayed 1814/15 in Wiesbaden for a regimen and worked intensively towards the founding of such a cultural institution. 1825 he prompted the Frankfurt private collector Johann Isaac Freiherr von Gerning to allocate his extensive collection of art, antiquities and naturalia to the Herzogtum Nassau in return for an annuity for life. 1913 the museums moved into their recent location and since 1973 they are in the possession of the state of Hesse.

The “Block Beuys” at the Landesmuseum Wiesbaden is the world’s largest authentic complex, on which the artist worked until his death. The origin of the museum lies in the 19th century: 1820 the Grand Duke Ludewig I. donated his collection of art and naturalia to the state. It had been built continuously by the earls of Hessen-Darmstadt since the 17th century, consisting of naturalia, physical instruments, glass, paintings, old German altars, Dutch paintings, the entire printmaking works of Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt, ivory hand crafts and medieval paintings. 1924 the museum enjoyed the donation of important paintings of Arnold Böcklin. It formed the focal point of the 19th century gallery. During National Socialism especially the graphic collection and the holdings of German expressionistic paintings suffered from heavy losses which only could be partly compensated after 1945. However the collections were continuously complemented by loans or donations, among them 40 sculptures, which the Geneva based collector Simon Spierer bestowed to the museum.

The Hessische Landesmuseum is one of the few German museums, which still are devoted to interdisciplinary collecting and the historical presentation of nature, art and culture.

The Museums in Frankfurt

Due to the concentration of numerous internationally renowned museums the capital on the river Main ranks at an exceptional position. Frankfurt is the outstanding cultural centre, concentrating the Städelsche Kunstinstitut, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum for Applied Art, the Jewish Museum, the Kunsthalle Schirn or the sculpture collection Liebighaus. The record of exhibition houses and galleries, whose annual Saisonstart is a prominent event, is impressive. The art institutions’ special policy sometime may demand an unaccustomed perspective but finally all houses achieve great attention of a wide audience, the art scene and in art journalism. Since 1989 the Frankfurt art fair artfrankfurt takes place at the Frankfurt fair ground. In 2006 it was renamed as fine art fair Frankfurt, presenting a new concept for modern and contemporary art.

The Academy of fine art, i.e. Städelschule, offers an ambitious education for the rising generation in art. Attached to the Städelschule is the Kunsthalle Portikus, where artists from all over the world exhibit and which over the years proved to be a leading centre for experimental art in Germany.

Sponsorship and Education

The ambitious new artistic generation finds another possibility for a qualified education at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, which ranges highly in the nationwide competition. Looking back on a 175-year old development, the former art college was transformed into an artistic-scientific university of Hesse in 1970. The university’s activity profile is characterized by great openness: today it encompasses artistic and scientific lecture and research in the diverse fields of visual communication and product design under special consideration of electronic media and newest technologies. The promotion of communicative intelligence the development of emotional-sensual maturity are further objectives. Many internationally acknowledged artists graduated from the HfG Offenbach.

Alongside the large institutions and houses many other projects in Hesse play an important role in the art scene. Even the Verzeichnis der Museen in Hessen cannot list all projects, but is very helpful to retrieve exhibition places; it also offers a thematic and regional search function. Here you will find the Kunsthalle in Darmstadt or the art societies of Kassel or Frankfurt. They also will be featured at the Kulturportal in the near future.

A first overview over art in Hesse will be completed by mentioning the Hessische Kulturstiftung. In the field of fine art it supports exhibition projects of museums and archives with several million euros per year. Furthermore it sponsors scholarships for artists. The Kulturstiftung's website informs in detail about the possibilities of sponsorship and the funded projects so far.