The Museum für Moderne Kunst (''Museum of Modern Art''), or short MMK, in Frankfurt, was founded in 1981 and opened to the public 6 June 1991. The museum was designed by the Viennese architect Hans Hollein. Because of its triangular shape, it is popularly called "piece of cake", Claes Oldenburg artistically has expressed in a work.

History

The newest of Frankfurt's museums was founded in 1981. The idea to set up a museum for modern art in Frankfurt came from

Peter Iden Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, an influential theatre and art critic at the

Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (FR) is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition (see link below) as well as an e-pa ...

and founding director of the museum (1978–1987). With the Mayor

Walter Wallmann Walter Wallmann (24 September 1932 – 21 September 2013) was a German lawyer politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the Mayor of Frankfurt between 1977 and 1986, and as Minister-president of Hesse from 1987 to 1991. ...

(CDU) and the Head of the Cultural department

Hilmar Hoffmann Hilmar Hoffmann (25 August 1925 – 1 June 2018) was a German stage and film director, cultural politician and academic lecturer. He founded the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. He was for decades an influential city councillor in Fr ...

(SPD) Iden found political advocates for his project. In 1989, the Swiss art historian and curator

Jean-Christophe Ammann Jean-Christophe Ammann (14 January 1939 – 13 September 2015) was a Swiss art historian and curator. Life and work Born in Berlin, Ammann, son of a chemist, grew up in a German-speaking family in Fribourg. He actually wanted to become a doctor ...

moved from the Kunsthalle Basel to Frankfurt am Main and opened the new Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK) Frankfurt am Main there on 6 June 1991. With a new exhibition model, the Change of Scene, which took place a total of 20 times with the help of private sponsors (Change of Scene I, 1992 until Change of Scene XX, 2001–02), the new museum gained international renown. At the change of scene exhibitions, the inventory of the museum was rearranged every six months and enriched with new additions, loans and special exhibitions. In 1983, Hollein won the competition for the Museum für Moderne Kunst; three years earlier, his proposal for the city's

Museum für angewandte Kunst A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

had finished a close second behind

Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...

's prize-winning design. The ground-breaking was delayed until 1987, and the new museum was eventually built at a cost of about $38 million. It opened in 1991. The MMK Zollamt is a satellite exhibition site that belongs since 1999 to the MMK and is located in a building directly opposite the museum that once was home to the City of Frankfurt's Main Customs Office. The building has been completely modernised and artistic positions by younger artists or "unknowns" have been presented here regularly since 2007 with the support of Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung.

Architecture

Hollein molded a building to the three-sided space, so that the large rooms at the narrow end are wedge-shaped, producing 3,500 square meters (37,700 square feet) of exhibition space. The height of the three-storey building is adapted to the surroundings and is characterised by the "triangular shape" and facade design. The building houses three main levels for exhibitions and an administration area on the mezzanine, which is located above the entrance area and the cafeteria. The MMK library and archive are also located in this area. The entire area of the museum has a basement. There are workshops, depots and a lecture hall.

Collection

The core of the museum is the legacy of German collector Karl Ströher with 87 works of Pop art and

Minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

. The manufacturer Ströher had originally bequeathed to his native city of

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

on condition that a museum be built to house them. When funds for the project were not approved, Ströher's heirs sold the choice ensemble to Frankfurt and donated the painting " Yellow and Green Brushstrokes" by Roy Lichtenstein to the museum as a gift. Major artists since the 1950s from the Ströher Collection displayed, including Jasper Johns,

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combines (1954–1964), a group of artwor ...

, Carl Andre, John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd,

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. ...

, Walter de Maria, Robert Morris, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella,

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, Tom Wesselman and

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

, with his ''Jazz Combo''. Between 1981 and 1987, the museum's co-founder Peter Iden expanded the collection by adding works from the seventies and eighties. Later parts of the collection have been amassed by the museum's first director,

. In 2006 the Museum für Moderne Kunst, along with the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, acquired the private collection of Cologne art dealer Rolf Ricke, comprising works by Richard Artschwager, Bill Bollinger, Donald Judd, Gary Kuehn, und Steven Parrino. Today, the permanent collection includes over 4,500 works of international art, ranging from the 1960s to the present.

Exhibitions

* 1985: ''Bilder für Frankfurt. Sammlung Museum für Moderne Kunst im Deutschen Architekturmuseum'', Frankfurt * 1987: ''Dalla Pop Art Americana alla nuova figurazione''. Museum für Moderne Kunst / Padiglione d'arte contemporanea, Milano * 1991: ''Opening Exhibition Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt'', 6 June 1991 * 1991: Carl Andre: ''Extraneous Roots'' * 1994: ''Das Museum für Moderne Kunst und die Sammlung Ströher'' * 1997: ''Views from Abroad:'' ''European Perspectives on American Art'' * 1997: Thomas Bayrle: ''TassenTassen 1967–1997'' * 1997:

Alex Katz Alex Katz (born July 24, 1927) is an American figurative artist known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Early life and career Alex Katz was born July 24, 1927, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, as the son of an émigré who ...

: ''Smiles'' * 1998: Alighiero Boetti: ''Die Welt zur Welt bringen / Mettere al Mondo il Mondo'' * 1999: Bill Viola: ''A 25 Year Survey Exhibition – Werke aus 25 Jahren'' * 1999: Dan Flavin: ''Two Primary Series and one Secondary, Projektraum MMK im Alten Hauptzollamt'' * 2000: Eric Fischl: ''Works from the 1980s & Travel of Romance'' * 2000: ''Screenings 01 – 10: Filme, Videos und Videoinstallationen, Projektraum MMK im Alten Hauptzollamt'' * 2001: Lucian Freud'': Naked Portraits'' * 2001:

Jeff Wall Jeffrey Wall, OC, RSA (born September 29, 1946) is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he helped define the Vancouver School and he has published ess ...

: ''Figures and Places'' * 2002: Hans Peter Feldmann: ''Kinderzimmer'' * 2002: ''Das Museum, die Sammlung, der Direktor und seine Liebschaften'' * 2002: Martin Boyce: ''Dornbracht Installation Projects'' * 2003: ''Das lebendige Museum'' * 2003: Rosemarie Trockel: ''Das Kinderzimmer'' * 2004:

Teresa Margolles Teresa Margolles (born 1963) is a Mexican conceptual artist, photographer, videographer, and performance artist. As an artist she researches the social causes and consequences of death.Prince Claus Fund (June 2012''Report from the 2012 Prince Clau ...

: ''Muerte sin fin'' * 2004:

Elaine Sturtevant Elaine Frances Sturtevant (née Horan; August 23, 1924 – May 7, 2014), also known professionally as Sturtevant, was an American artist. She achieved recognition for her carefully inexact repetitions of other artists' works. Early life and educ ...

: ''The Brutal Truth'' * 2005: ''Whats New, Pussycat?'' * 2005: ''Spinnwebzeit: Die ebay-Vernetzung'' * 2006:

Barbara Klemm Barbara Klemm (born 27 December 1939 in Münster) is a German press photographer. She worked for ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' for 45 years. She photographed many of the most important events in recent German history and has received honors ...

: ''14 Tage China im Jahre 1985'' * 2006: Thomas Bayrle: ''40 Years Chinese Rock'n'Roll'' * 2006: Thomas Demand: ''Klause'' * 2006: ''Humanism in China. Ein fotografisches Porträt'' * 2006:

Serge Spitzer Serge Spitzer (June 29, 1951 – September 9, 2012) Romanian-born American artist, known for his site-specific installations, sculpture, photographs and video. Biography In 1969–1972, Serge Spitzer studied at the Art Academy in Bucharest ...

und Ai Weiwei: ''Territorial'' * 2006: Andreas Slominski: ''Roter Sand und ein gefundenes Glück'' * 2007: Maurizio Cattelan * 2007: ''Das Kapital. Blue Chips & Masterpieces'' * 2007: ''Verwendungsnachweis. Stipendiaten der Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung 2003 – 2006'' * 2007:

Taryn Simon Taryn Simon (born February 4, 1975) is an American multidisciplinary artist who works in photography, text, sculpture, and performance. Currently residing and maintaining a studio practice in New York City, Simon has had work featured in the ...

: ''An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar'' * 2007: Frank Moritz: ''Menschenbild II'' * 2008: Hans Josephsohn: ''Bildhauer'' * 2008: Miroslav Tichý: ''Fotograf'' * 2008:

Bernard Buffet Bernard Buffet (; 10 July 1928 – 4 October 1999) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. He produced a varied and extensive body of work. His style was exclusively figurative. The artist enjoyed worldwide popularity early in his caree ...

: ''Maler'' * 2008: ©

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co ae ...

* 2009: Bogomir Ecker, Mark Wallinger und ein Unbekannter Meister: ''Angel Dust'' * 2009: ''Yellow and Green. Positionen aus der Sammlung des MMK'' * 2009: Double Reiner Ruthenbeck: ''Umgekippte Möbel, 1971'' * 2009: Sarah Morris: ''Gemini Dressage'' * 2009:

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

: ''2 Seestücke, 1975'' * 2009: Jack Goldstein * 2009: Double

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...

: ''Wall Drawing #261, 1975'' * 2009: Peter Roehr: ''Werke aus Frankfurter Sammlungen'' * 2009: Double Isa Genzken: ''3 Vollellipsoide Skulpturen, 1978'' * 2010: ''Radical Conceptual. Positionen aus der Sammlung des MMK'' * 2010: ''Funktionen der Zeichnung. Konzeptuelle Kunst auf Papier aus der Sammlung des MMK'' * 2010: Double

Wolfgang Laib Wolfgang Laib (born 25 March 1950 in Metzingen, Germany) is a German artist, predominantly known as a sculptor. He lives and works in a small village in southern Germany, maintaining studios in New York and South India. His work has been exhibite ...

: ''Blütenstaub von Haselnuß'' * 2010: Florian Hecker: ''Event, Stream, Objekt'' * 2010: Double Andreas Slominski: ''Fallen – Hochsprunganlage – Berg Sportgeräte, 1988'' * 2010: Double Anri Sala: ''"Title Suspended", 2008'' * 2010: ''Not in Fashion. Mode und Fotografie der 90er Jahre'' * 2010: ''The Lucid Evidence. Fotografie aus der Sammlung des MMK'' * 2011: ''New Frankfurt Internationals: Stories and Stages'' * 2011:

Félix González-Torres Félix González-Torres (November 26, 1957 – January 9, 1996) was a Cuban-born American visual artist. González-Torres's openly gay sexual orientation was influential in his work as an artist. González-Torres was known for his minimal inst ...

: ''Specific Objects without Specific Form'' * 2011: ''MMK 1991–2011. 20 Jahre Gegenwart im MMK, MMK Zollamt und MainTor-Areal'' * 2011:

Douglas Gordon Douglas Gordon (born 20 September 1966) is a Scottish artist. He won the Turner Prize in 1996, the Premio 2000 at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 and the Hugo Boss Prize in 1998. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Work Much of Gordon' ...

* 2012:

: ''Headlines'' * 2012: ''MAKING HISTORY. Im Rahmen von RAY – Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt Rhein/Main'' * 2012: ''Fotografie Total. Werke aus der Sammlung des MMK'' * 2012: Thomas Scheibitz: ''One-Time Pad'' * 2012: Alex Monteith: ''Exercise Blackbird'' * 2013: Carsten Nicolai: ''Unidisplay. Uni(psycho)acoustic'' * 2013: Rineke Dijkstra: ''The Krazy House'' * 2013: Danica Dakić: ''Safe Frame'' * 2013: Franz West: ''Wo ist mein Achter?'' * 2013/2014: Hélio Oiticica: ''Das große Labyrinth'' * 2014: ''Die Göttliche Komödie: Himmel, Hölle, Fegefeuer aus Sicht afrikanischer Gegenwartskünstler'' * 2014/2015:

Subodh Gupta Subodh Gupta, (born 1964) is an Indian contemporary artist based in New Delhi. His work encompasses sculpture, installation, painting, photography, performance and video. Early life and education Gupta was born in Khagaul, a small town in B ...

: ''Everything is Inside'' * 2014/2015: Sturtevant. ''Drawing Double Reversal'' * 2015: Gerald Domenig: ''Ausstellungsvorbereitung'' * 2015: Isa Genzken: ''New Works'' * 2015: ''Imagine Reality. RAY 2015 Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt RheinMain'' * 2015: William Forsythe: ''The Fact of Matter'' * 2016:

Kader Attia Kader Attia (born 30 December 1970) is an Algerian-French artist. Early life Attia was born in Dugny, France to Algerian parents and was raised in Paris and Algeria. He studied at the '' l'école Duperré de Paris, l'école des arts appliqué ...

: ''Sacrifice and Harmony'' * 2016–17: Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc: ''Mefloquine Dreams'' * 2016–17:

Fiona Tan Fiona Tan (born 1966 in Pekanbaru, Indonesia) is a visual artist primarily known for her photography, film and video art installations. With her own complex cultural background, Tan's work is known for its skillful craftsmanship and emotional int ...

: ''Geografie der Zeit'' * 2016–17: ''25 Jahre MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst – Neue Sammlungspräsentation'' * 2017: Ed Atkins: ''Corpsing'' * 2017:

Claudia Andujar Claudia Andujar (born June 12, 1931) is a Swiss-born Brazilian photographer and activist. Life The daughter of a Hungarian Jewish father and a Swiss mother, she was born Claudine Haas in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. She grew up in the city of Oradea ...

: ''Morgen darf nicht gestern sein'' * 2017:

Carolee Schneemann Carolee Schneemann (October 12, 1939 – March 6, 2019) was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. in poetry and philosophy from Bard College and ...

: ''Kinetische Malerei'' * 2017–18: ''A Tale of Two Worlds. Experimentelle Kunst Lateinamerikas der 1940er- bis 80er-Jahre im Dialog mit der Sammlung des MMK'' * 2018–19:

Cady Noland Cady Noland (born 1956) is an American postmodern Conceptual art, conceptual sculptor and an internationally exhibited installation artist whose work deals with the failed promise of the American Dream and the divide between fame and anonymity, am ...

* 2019: Marianna Simnett * 2019–20: ''Museum'' The museum and its director, Susanne Gaensheimer, were commissioned to curate the German Pavilion at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 2011 and 2013.Alexander Forbes (8 May 2012)
Susanne Gaensheimer to Curate German Pavilion at 2013 Venice Biennale
''ARTINFO''.

Gallery

Museum fuer Moderne Kunst NO.jpg, Northern facade of the museum MMK Kunstgenuss DSC 6464.jpg, Museum interior MMK Treppe zur Kunst DSC 6398.jpg, Foyer

Literature

* Iden, Peter; Lauter, Rolf : ''Bilder für Frankfurt: Bestandskatalog des Museums für Moderne Kunst'', München, Prestel 1985, ; * *''Publikationsliste des MMK'', July 2004 edition
PDF-Version, 60 KB
* Kiefer, Theresia: ''Architektur und Konzeption eines zeitgenössischen Museums am Beispiels des Museums für moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main''. 1995 * Bee, Andreas: ''Zusammengedrängt zwischen zwei Buchdeckeln''. In: Zehn Jahre Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main. Köln 2003 * Hollein, Hans: ''Ausstellen, Aufstellen, Abstellen Überlegungen zur Aufgabe des Museums für Moderne Kunst''. In: Museum für Moderne Kunst. Schriftreihe des Hochbauamtes zu Bauaufgaben der Stadt Frankfurt am Main. Der Magistrat der Stadt Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt 1991. . * Ammann, Jean-Christophe; Christmut Präger: ''Museum für Moderne Kunst und Sammlung Ströher''. Frankfurt 1992 * Lauter, Rolf (ed.):
Das Museum für Moderne Kunst und die Sammlung Ströher.
Zur Geschichte einer Privatsammlung'', Ausstellungskatalog (5. Dezember 1994 bis 8. Januar 1995), Frankfurt am Main, 1994. . * * Hans Hollein, ''Gestaltungsprinzipien der Museumsarchitektur''. In: Iden, Peter; Lauter, Rolf (Ed.), Bilder für Frankfurt, Bestandskatalog des Musems für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt. München 1985. * Schoeler, Andreas von: ''Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main''. Ernst & Sohn, 1991

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moderne Kunst Art museums and galleries in Germany Modern art museums in Germany Museums in Frankfurt Art museums established in 1981 Museum Fur Moderne Kunst