Städel Institute

The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The museum is located at the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of the River Main. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 photographs and more than 100,000 drawings and prints. It has around of display and a library of 115,000 books.

In 2012, the Städel was honoured as by the German art critics association AICA. In the same year the museum recorded the highest attendance figures in its history, of 447,395 visitors. In 2020 the museum had 318,732 visitors, down 45 percent from 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ranked 71st on the list of most-visited art museums in 2020.

History

19th century

The Städel was founded in 1817, and is one of the oldest museums in Frankfurt. The founding followed a bequest by the Frankfurt banker and art patron Johann Friedrich Städel (1728–1816), who left his house, art collection and fortune with the request in his will that the institute be set up. In the early years, Städel's former living quarters at Frankfurt's were used to present his collection. The collection received its first exhibition building at the in 1833.

19th century building

In 1878, a new museum building, in the Neo-Renaissance style, was erected by on Schaumainkai, a street along the south side of the river Main.

Städelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt plan.jpg, Floor plan, 1894

20th century

In 1937, 77 paintings and 700 prints were confiscated from the museum when the National Socialists declared them " degenerate art".

In 1939, the collection of the Städel Museum was removed to avoid destruction from the Allied bombings, and the collection was stored in the Schloss Rossbach, a castle owned by the Baron Thüngen near Bad Brückenau in Bavaria. There, the museum's paintings and library were discovered by Lt. Thomas Carr Howe, USN, of the American Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program.

Renovations and extensions

The gallery was substantially damaged by air raids in World War II, it was rebuilt in 1966 following a design by the Frankfurt architect Johannes Krahn. An expansion building for the display of 20th-century work and special exhibits was erected in 1990, designed by the Austrian architect Gustav Peichl. Small structural changes and renovations took place from 1997 to 1999.

The largest extension in the history of the museum to intended for the presentation of contemporary art was designed by the Frankfurt architectural firm and opened in February 2012.

Digital expansion

The Städel has been significantly enlarging its activities and outreach through a major digital expansion on the occasion of its 200-year anniversary in 2015. Already available to visitors is an exhibition 'digitorial' and free access to WiFi throughout the museum and its grounds. The museum offers to visitors a Städel app, the possibility of listening to audio guides on their own devices, and a new 'cabinet of digital curiosities'. Several more projects are currently in development including an online exhibition platform; educational computer games for children; online art-history courses and a digital art book.

Creative commons

The Städel Museum made more than 22,000 works in its ''Digital Collection'' available for free downloading under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 4.0.

Collection

The Städel has European paintings from seven centuries, beginning with the early 14th century, moving into Late Gothic, the Renaissance, Baroque, and into the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The large collection of prints and drawings is not on permanent display and occupies the first floor of the museum. Works on paper not on display can be viewed by appointment.

The gallery has a conservation department that performs conservation and restoration work on the collection.

Temporary exhibitions

Most visited exhibitions:
* "Making Van Gogh" 2019/2020 (505,750 visitors)
* "Monet und die Geburt des Impressionismus" 2015 (432,121 visitors)
* "Botticelli" 2009/2010 (367,033 visitors)
* " Dürer. Kunst – Künstler – Kontext" 2013/2014 (258,577 visitors)

Recent exhibitions:
* "Holbein" 2023/2024

Selected works

* Robert Campin, ''Flémalle Panels'', 1428–1430, mixed technique, 160.2 × 68.2 cm, 151.8 × 61 cm, 148.7 × 61 cm
* Jan van Eyck, '' Lucca Madonna'', 1437, mixed technique, 66 x 50 cm
* Fra Angelico, ', 1430–1433, tempera on panel, 37 x 27 cm
* Rogier van der Weyden, '' Medici Madonna'', 1460–1464, oil on panel, 61.7 x 46.1 cm
* Master of the Frankfurt Paradiesgärtlein, '' Paradiesgärtlein'', between 1400 and 1420, mixed technique on oak, 26 x 33 cm
* Hieronymus Bosch, ''Ecce Homo'', 1476, oil on panel, 75 x 61 cm
* Sandro Botticelli, '' Portrait of a Young Woman'', 1480–85, mixed technique on a poplar panel, 82 x 54 cm
* Bartolomeo Veneto, ''Portrait of a Young Woman'', between 1500 and 1530, mixed technique on a poplar panel, 44 x 34 cm
* Rembrandt van Rijn, ''The Blinding of Samson'', 1636, oil on canvas, 205 x 272 cm
* Johannes Vermeer, ''The Geographer'', 1668–1669, oil on canvas, 52 x 45.5 cm
* Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, ''Goethe in the Roman Campagna'', 1787, oil on canvas, 164 x 206 cm
* Claude Monet, ''The Luncheon'', 1868–1869, oil on canvas, 231.5 x 151.5 cm
* Edgar Degas, ', 1872, oil on canvas, 69 x 49 cm
* Auguste Renoir, ''After the Luncheon'', 1879, oil on canvas, 100.5 x 81.3 cm
* Franz Marc, ''Dog Lying in the Snow '', 1911, oil on canvas, 62.5 x 105 cm

The museum also features works by the 20th-century German artist Max Beckmann, who taught at the Städelschule.

Gallery

Lucca Madonna by Jan Van Eyck - Städel - Frankfurt am Main - Germany 2017.jpg, Jan van Eyck, '' Lucca Madonna''
Meister des Frankfurter Paradiesgärtleins 001.jpg, Oberrheinischer Meister, '' Paradiesgärtlein''
Sandro Botticelli 069.jpg, Sandro Botticelli, '' Portrait of a Young Woman''
1520 Veneto Idealbildnis einer Kurtisane als Flora anagoria.JPG, Bartolomeo Veneto, ''Portrait of a Young Woman''
The Blinding of Samson (SM 1383).png, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, ''The Blinding of Samson''
Johannes Vermeer - The Geographer - Google Art Project.jpg, Johannes Vermeer, ''The Geographer''
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein - Goethe in the Roman Campagna - Google Art Project.jpg, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, ''Goethe in the Roman Campagna''
Claude Monet - The Luncheon - Google Art Project.jpg, Claude Monet, ''The Luncheon''
Edgar Degas - Orchestra Musicians - Google Art Project.jpg, Edgar Degas, ''Musicians in the Orchestra''
Auguste Renoir - After the Luncheon - Google Art Project.jpg, Auguste Renoir, ''After the Luncheon''
Franz Marc-Dog Lying in the Snow-1910-1911.jpg, Franz Marc, ''Dog Lying in the Snow''

Directors

The directors of the Städel Museum:

* 1817–1840
* Philipp Veit 1830–1843
* Johann David Passavant 1840–1861
* Gerhard Malß 1861–1885
* Georg Kohlbacher 1885–1889
* Henry Thode 1889–1891
* 1891–1904
* 1904–1905
* 1906–1937
* 1938–1972
* 1974–1994
* 1994–2006
* Max Hollein 2006–2016
* Philipp Demandt since 2016

See also

* Städelschule
* List of museums in Germany
* List of art museums
* Dresden Gallery, Alte Pinakothek Munich, Altes Museum Berlin

Literature

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Notes

References

Further reading

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External links

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Virtual tour of the Städel
provided by Google Arts & Culture
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadel Museum
1818 establishments in the German Confederation
Art museums and galleries in Germany
Museums in Frankfurt
Art museums and galleries established in 1818
Städel
Renaissance Revival architecture in Germany