A city gallery Lenbachhaus situated in the villa of a Munich artist Franz von Lenbach (1836–1904) became famous due to the unique collection of art works created by the masters from the art group “Blue Horseman”. The museum possesses the largest collection of works created by Vasily Kandinsky, the founder of the union.
There is a stereotype: great artists are always poor, they are appreciated only after the death. The truthfulness of the statement is proved by numerous stories. What can we expect in connection with the biography of an artist beginning with the words: “Franz was born in 1836 in the family of a miller...”? However, that was the beginning of the way of German artist Franz von Lenbach, who became in the end of XIX century the central figure in the cultural life of Munich. Finally, he became the nobleman. He was a talented portrait artist and was largely demanded at the period. He was rich. To emphasize his high society position, Franz von Lenbach decided to build a villa that was to be his home, workroom and museum at the same time. “I’ve got the idea of a palace more luxurious than all existing samples; the powerful centres of great European art must be united with the present there” — he wrote in 1885. The villa built in 1887–1891 to the draft of Lenbach and a popular architect Gabriel von Seidel united the Italian architecture of XVI–XVII centuries and features of architectural details — stairs, columns, loggias, twirled arches, fine reliefs on the walls and ceilings. An interior garden with fountains completed the architectural ensemble. It was connected with Lenbach’s expectations of the house for the noble guests. In 1892 Bismark greeted the inhabitants of Munich from the balcony of the villa.
In 1929, 25 years after the death of the artist, the Lenbachhaus was opened for visitors. It united the City picture gallery and Museum of Lenbach. The exposition was based on the main part of the family collection of Franz von Lenbach donated to the city by his widow. Numerous landscapes, genre scenes, portraits of Wilhelm Georg von Dillis (1759–1841), Wilhelm von Kobell (1766–1853), Karl Rottmann (1797–1850), and Carl Spitzweg (1808–1885) are exposed in the northern wing of the villa. Another hall features pictures and sculptures created by Franz von Lenbach, Wilhelm Leibel (1844–1900), Lowis Corint (1858–1952) and Max Slevot (1868–1932) that reflected the impressionist tendencies of German art.
Franz von Stuck (1863–1928) turned to mythology. He was a professor in the Munich Academy of arts, he taught Vasily Kandinsky (1866–1944), who later founded together with Franz Mark the union “Blue Horseman”. Due to the unique collection of art works and documents of the members of the union, the gallery got the world fame. It happened in February 1957, when a 80-year old German artist Gabriele Munter (1877–1962), a friend of Kandinsky, donated to the museum all the art collection of “Blue Horseman”. More 90 paintings, 330 watercolors and drawings, numerous albums of sketches by Vasily Kandinsky as well as pictures, drawings and graphic works by Munter and other artists of “Blue Horsman” became part of the museum collection. It totally changed the expectations of the leaders of the Lenbachhaus connected with its future. They decided to complete the collection with the works of artists of “Blue Horseman” and the works of modern advance-guard. In 1965 the Lenbachhaus became the owner of the pictures by Macquet, Mark, and Yavlensky.
In 1966 the fund of Gabriele-Munter und Johannes-Eichner-Stiftung was founded. Due to it, the Lenbachhaus managed to purchase artworks by Bekhteev, Verevkin, Delauney, Yavlensky, and others. The fund protects the house-museum of Gabriel Munter in Murnau that is near Munich. Munter and Kandinsky as well as other artists of “Blue Horseman” lived and worked here in 1909–1914. I was called the “House of Russians” (Russenhaus). There were the years when Kandinsky turned to the Bavarian folk art (including the painting in the interior side of the glass) and began to use simplified forms of depiction. One more important acquisition was Alfred Kubin’s archive purchased in 1971 from a Hamburg collector Kurt Otte. The museum collection was growing, and in 1969–1972 they had to enlarge the exhibition room. The decoration of new halls of the Lenbachhaus is in harmony with the pictures. The atmosphere is completed with the changing brightness of the daylight. In the 1970s the Lenbachhaus began to expose the works of artists, whose oeuvre was the subject of arguments. In the first hall of the exposition there are two portraits of Vladimir Lenin created in 1986 by Andy Warhall (1930–1987). An installation “Show Your Injury” (1974–1975) created by Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) was moved to the villa in 1980.
The section also features the works by Sigmar Polke, James Turrell, Sean Scully, Dan Flavin, Jenny Holzer, Ellsworth Kelly, Rupprecht Geiger, Maurizio Nannucci, and Gerhard Merz. Some of them decorate not only exhibition halls, but also facade of the building and a patio integrating the works into the existing architectural ensemble. It makes the Lenbachhaus different from other museums of modern art. A neon work by Maurizio Nannucci “You Can Imagine The Opposite” (1991) situated on the facade of the villa gives the first impression for the visitors. The Lenbachhaus is always looking for the opportunities to enlarge the collection. The budget intended for the purchase of new modern artworks is bigger than in other museums of Munich. It tells about the tendencies to support modern artists and modern art. As for the pictures of “Blue Horseman”, the Lenbachhaus purchase them only with the help of sponsors.
The only existing problem is the lack exhibition room for the permanent exposition. A successful decision was found in 1994. They began to use an empty hall above the subway station near Lenbach’s villa as an exhibition hall Kunstbau. They also placed there the room for the demonstration of the films. One of the most successful exhibitions dedicated to the oeuvre of Franz Mark has taken place in Kunstbau this winter. The visitors waiting for the tickets weren’t afraid of frost. The Lenbachhaus has close contacts with the Tretyakov Gallery. They realise the active change of exhibit items, generally, the works created by Kandinsky. The first large united project was the retrospective of Kandinsky’s oeuvre. The Lenbachhaus, the Guggenheimmuseum, and the George Pompidou Centre took part in it. In the 1980s they held the exhibition of Russian advance-guard from the collection of Georgiy Kostaki. The exhibition “From Eisenstein to Tarkovsky: painting of film directors in the USSR” was also worth attention. The Lenbachhaus pays attention to educative programs for children. The museum is always success with the public. It became famous due to the Russian artist Vasily Kandinsky. German and Russian art historians haven’t answered the question: “Where is the main part of Kandinsky’s artistic heritage — in Germany or in Russia?”.
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