Sprengel Museum
Encyclopedia
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
houses one of the most significant collections of modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
in Germany. It is located in a building designed by Peter and Ursula Trint (of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
) and Dieter Quast (of Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
), adjacent to the Maschsee
Maschsee
Maschsee is an artificial lake in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany. At an elevation of 53.20 m, its surface area is . It was created in the 1930s....
. The museum opened in 1979 and was extended in 1992.
Bernhard Sprengel
Bernhard Sprengel
Dr Bernhard Sprengel was a German chocolate manufacturer and modern art collector.Sprengel studied at the Goethe school, and later took courses in political science. In May 1919 he became one of the first new members of the Corps Holsatia following the First World War...
donated his extensive collection of modern art to the city of Hanover in 1969, as well as financially supporting the construction of the museum. The city of Hanover and the state of Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
agreed to jointly operate the museum. In addition to the works donated by Sprengel, the museum also houses 20th century artworks owned by Lower Saxony and Hanover.
A further expansion, designed by Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
-based architects Meili + Peter, was originally planned for 2010 but is now expected to begin around 2012. The cuboid
Cuboid
In geometry, a cuboid is a solid figure bounded by six faces, forming a convex polyhedron. There are two competing definitions of a cuboid in mathematical literature...
design of the new building was chosen from 65 entrants in an international architecture competition. The original plan would have created an extra 4350 square metres (46,823 sq ft) of exhibition space, and was expected to cost around €25m, with €10m coming from Lower Saxony's EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
funding, €5m directly from Lower Saxony, €5m from the city of Hanover, and €5m expected from donors. These estimates have since been reduced. A major objective of the expansion is to allow extensive coverage of Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle
Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine-Marie-Agnès-Brandon Fal de Saint Phalle was a French sculptor, painter, and film maker.-The early years:...
and the Hanoverian artist Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters was a German painter who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography and what came to be known as...
. The new building will also be used for one-off international exhibitions.
Works
Besides Schwitters and de Saint Phalle, the Sprengel Museums's key works include those of Max ErnstMax Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...
from before 1945.
In 1988, the museum inherited the estate of the artists and married couple Robert Michel and Ella Bergmann-Michel
Ella Bergmann-Michel
Ella Bergmann-Michel was a German abstract artist. An early student of constructivist art in Germany, her contributions to modern abstract art are often forgotten in American art culture. Bergmann-Michel’s style was very specialized and unique, especially considering the restrictive time in...
. The museum publishes a printed inventory of this estate, of which two volumes have so far been published. Since 1993, the Sprengel Museum has contained the Kurt Schwitters Archive, of which the Merz Room is particularly notable. In 2000, Niki de Saint Phalle became an honorary citizen of Hanover and subsequently donated 300 of her works to the museum.