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.
It is part of Frankfurt's
Museumsufer (Museum Riverbank).
Because of its triangular shape, the MMK is popularly called the ("piece of cake").
Since 2018, has been director of the MMK.
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, an influential theatre and art critic at the ''
Frankfurter Rundschau
The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (''FR'') is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. The ''Rundschaus editorial stance is social liberal. It holds that "independence, social justice and fairness" underlie its journalism. In Post-wa ...
'' and founding director of the museum (1978–1987). With the Mayor
Walter Wallmann (CDU) and the Head of the Cultural department
Hilmar Hoffmann (SPD) Iden found political advocates for his project. In 1989, the Swiss art historian and curator
Jean-Christophe Ammann 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 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.
[David Galloway (6 July 1991)]
Museum à la Mode in Frankfurt
''International Herald Tribune
The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...
''. It opened in 1991.
The MMK Zollamt is a satellite exhibition site that since 1999 has belonged 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 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 the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
.
The manufacturer Ströher had originally bequeathed to his native city of
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
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" or "Bob" 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 Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...
,
Carl Andre,
John Chamberlain,
Dan Flavin,
Donald Judd
Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...
,
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...
,
Walter de Maria,
Robert Morris,
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor best known for his public art installations, typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
,
James Rosenquist
James Albert Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advert ...
,
Frank Stella
Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...
,
Cy Twombly,
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
,
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,
Jean-Christophe Ammann.
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
Richard Ernst Artschwager (December 26, 1923 – February 9, 2013) was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism.
Early life and art
Artschwager was born in Washington, D. ...
,
Bill Bollinger,
Donald Judd
Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...
,
Gary Kuehn, und
Steven Parrino. Today, the permanent collection includes over 4,500 works of international art, ranging from the 1960s to the present.
Locations
* Museum, Domstraße 10 (MUSEUM
MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST)
*
Taunusturm, Taunustor 1 (TOWER
MMK)
* Zollamt, Domstraße 3 (ZOLLAMT
MMK)
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 printmaking, prints. Since 1951, Katz's work has been the subject of more than 200 solo exhibitions and nearly 500 group exhibitions through ...
: ''Smiles''
* 1998:
Alighiero Boetti
Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti, known as Alighiero e Boetti (16 December 1940 – 24 April 1994) was an Italian Conceptual Art, conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera.
Background
Boetti is most famous for a se ...
: ''Die Welt zur Welt bringen / Mettere al Mondo il Mondo''
* 1999:
Bill Viola
William John Viola Jr. ( , ; January 25, 1951 – July 12, 2024) was an American video artist whose artistic expression depended upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human ...
: ''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
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists.
His early career as a painter was inf ...
'': Naked Portraits''
* 2001:
Jeff Wall
Jeffrey Wall, Order of Canada, OC, Royal Society of Canada, RSA (born September 29, 1946) is a Canadian photographer. He is artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he h ...
: ''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 in Culiacán) 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 20 ...
: ''Muerte sin fin''
* 2004:
Elaine Sturtevant: ''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 und
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei ( ; , IPA: ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been ...
: ''Territorial''
* 2006:
Andreas Slominski: ''Roter Sand und ein gefundenes Glück''
* 2007:
Maurizio Cattelan
Maurizio Cattelan (; born 21 September 1960) is an Italian visual artist. Known primarily for his hyperrealistic sculptures and installations, Cattelan's practice also includes curating and publishing. His Satire, satirical approach to art has re ...
* 2007: ''Das Kapital. Blue Chips & Masterpieces''
* 2007: ''Verwendungsnachweis. Stipendiaten der Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung 2003 – 2006''
* 2007:
Taryn Simon: ''An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar''
* 2007: Frank Moritz: ''Menschenbild II''
* 2008:
Hans Josephsohn: ''Bildhauer''
* 2008:
Miroslav Tichý: ''Fotograf''
* 2008:
Bernard Buffet: ''Maler''
* 2008:
Takashi Murakami
is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...
* 2009:
Bogomir Ecker,
Mark Wallinger
Mark Wallinger (born 25 May 1959) is an English artist. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation '' State Britain''. His work ''Ecce Homo'' (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy th ...
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 art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...
: ''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: ''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 or Felix Gonzalez-Torres (November 26, 1957 – January 9, 1996) was a Cuban-born American Visual arts, visual artist. He lived and worked primarily in New York City between 1979 and 1995 after attending university in P ...
: ''Specific Objects without Specific Form''
* 2011: ''MMK 1991–2011. 20 Jahre Gegenwart im MMK, MMK Zollamt und MainTor-Areal''
* 2011:
Douglas Gordon
* 2012:
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
: ''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
Hélio Oiticica (; July 26, 1937 – March 22, 1980) was a Brazilian visual artist, sculptor, painter, performance artist, and theorist best known for his participation in the Neo-Concrete Movement, for his innovative use of color, and for what ...
: ''Das große Labyrinth''
* 2014: ''Die
Göttliche Komödie: Himmel, Hölle, Fegefeuer aus Sicht afrikanischer Gegenwartskünstler''
* 2014/2015:
Subodh Gupta: ''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: ''Sacrifice and Harmony''
* 2016–17: Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc: ''Mefloquine Dreams''
* 2016–17:
Fiona Tan: ''Geografie der Zeit''
* 2016–17: ''25 Jahre MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst – Neue Sammlungspräsentation''
* 2017: Ed Atkins: ''Corpsing''
* 2017:
Claudia Andujar: ''Morgen darf nicht gestern sein''
* 2017:
Carolee Schneemann: ''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
* 2019:
Marianna Simnett
* 2019–20: ''Museum''
* 2020:
Frank Walter
* 2020:
Marcel Duchamp
Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
* 2022:
Stéphane Mandelbaum
* 2022-23:
Rosemarie Trockel
* 2023:
Cameron Rowland
* 2023-24:
Elizabeth Catlett
* 2023-24:
Helena Uambembe
* 2024: "There is no there there"
The museum and its director, Susanne Gaensheimer, were commissioned to curate the German Pavilion at the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
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
References
Bibliography
*
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 Museums für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt. München 1985.
* Schoeler, Andreas von: ''Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main''. Ernst & Sohn, 1991
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moderne Kunst
Art museums and galleries in Germany
Modern art museums in Germany
Museums in Frankfurt
Art museums and galleries established in 1981
Museum Fur Moderne Kunst
Postmodern architecture in Germany