The Wilhelm Busch Museum (german: Wilhelm Busch - Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und Zeichenkunst, links=no, "Wilhelm Busch - German Museum of Caricature and Drawings") is a museum in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, Germany. It features the world's largest collection of works by

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

, as well as contemporary

comic art ''Comic Art'' was a magazine, founded and edited by Todd Hignite, which surveyed newspaper comic strips, magazine cartoon panels and comic book art, both historical and contemporary. History and profile ''Comic Art'' was established in 2002. Th ...

, illustrations and drawings. It is located in the Georgengarten (part of the

Herrenhausen Gardens The Herrenhausen Gardens (german: Herrenhäuser Gärten, ) of Herrenhausen Palace, located in Herrenhausen, an urban district of Lower Saxony's capital of Hanover are made up of the Great Garden (), the Berggarten, the Georgengarten and th ...

) in a palace known as the Georgenpalais, dating from around 1780. The museum is run by the Wilhelm Busch Society, which formed in 1930.Wilhelm-Busch-Gesellschaft

History

The museum was founded in the centre of Hanover, in 1937, by the Wilhelm Busch Society. It was the first museum devoted to the Lower Saxon artist Busch. The building was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1943, although the artworks had already been evacuated. The museum reopened in 1950, initially in the Wallmodenpalais, with an extensive presentation of works by Busch as well as the first exhibition of caricatures. As of 2010 the Wilhelm Busch Society has around 2,500 members in and outside Germany. Since 2002 the museum has also been supported by the Association of Sponsors (''Verein der Förderer des Wilhelm-Busch-Museums''). The city of Hanover allows the use of the historic exhibition building free of charge, and also makes an annual sponsorship contribution. Since 2000 the museum has jointly managed a cafe with the Palaisgarten, following extensive renovations of both. Wilhelm-Busch Museum

Collections

In addition to the works by Busch, the museum owns an internationally significant collection of four centuries of satirical art, by artists including

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808February 10, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second N ...

James Gillray James Gillray (13 August 1756Gillray, James and Draper Hill (1966). ''Fashionable contrasts''. Phaidon. p. 8.Baptism register for Fetter Lane (Moravian) confirms birth as 13 August 1756, baptism 17 August 1756 1June 1815) was a British caricatur ...

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

Thomas Theodor Heine Thomas Theodor Heine (28 February 1867 – 26 January 1948) was a German painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Born in Leipzig, Heine established himself as a gifted caricaturist at an early age, which led to him studying art at the Kunstakademie D ...

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...

Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...

Jean-Jacques Sempé Jean-Jacques Sempé, usually known as Sempé (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2022), was a French cartoonist. He is known for the series of children's books he created with René Goscinny, ''Le Petit Nicolas'', and also for his poster-like illust ...

Tomi Ungerer Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was an Alsatian artist and writer. He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. He was known for sha ...

, and A. Paul Weber. The collection has grown significantly since around 2000, with new acquisitions including 700 caricatures of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, works by the Austrian caricaturist Erich Sokol, the estate of the draughtsman

Volker Kriegel Volker Kriegel (24 December 1943 – 15 June 2003) was a German jazz guitarist and composer who also an author and drew cartoons. He was a founding member of the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble. Biography Kriegel was born in Darmstadt on 24 Decem ...

, and more recently that of Friedrich Karl Waechter. The museum owns, among other things, estates and endowments from the following artists: *

Paul Flora Paul Flora (6 June 1922 – 15 May 2009) was an Austrian caricaturist, graphic artist, and illustrator, known for his black ink line drawings. "Flora was one of Europe's most profiled illustrators since the 1960s. He worked for British newspapers ...

, endowment, 370 works (1970–1972) * Hanns Erich Köhler, estate, 4,383 works (1971) *

, estate, over 700 works (2005) * Friedrich Karl Waechter, estate, around 3,400 works (2007) *

, estate on permanent loan, around 2,200 works (2010)Ausstellung mit Karikaturen von Ronald Searle in Hannover
''

Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung ''Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (abbreviated HAZ) is a German newspaper with a circulation of 158,000 (as of 2009) and a widespread resonance all over Germany. It is distributed in Hanover and in all Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: ...

'', 26 February 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.

Exhibitions

The museum hosts changing exhibitions of historic and contemporary caricature, satirical prints, cartoons and comics, generally on a tri-monthly basis. Many exhibitions are carried out in cooperation with other European museums, both in and outside the German-speaking world. Around 150 exhibitions have been put on since 1950, featuring artists such as Carl Barks,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, Grandville,

Gottfried Helnwein Gottfried Helnwein (born 8 October 1948) is an Austrian-Irish visual artist. He has worked as a painter, draftsman, photographer, muralist, sculptor, installation and performance artist, using a wide variety of techniques and media. His work is ...

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip '' Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film '' Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

and

Roland Topor Roland Topor (7 January 1938 – 16 April 1997) was a French illustrator, cartoonist, comics artist, painter, novelist, playwright, film and TV writer, filmmaker and actor, who was known for the surreal nature of his work. He was of Polish-Jewis ...

, in addition to those mentioned above.

References

External links

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{{Authority control Museums in Hanover Culture of Lower Saxony Art museums established in 1937 Busch, Wilhelm Art museums and galleries in Germany Cartooning museums 1937 establishments in Germany