German art - Art in Germany

Thursday we took off to Germany for an art fest. First day we visited the Isle of Hombroich and the Langen Foundation (in Neuss, near Dusseldorf). We had been there before, and were impressed by what we had seen. This time we were surrounded by students on a trip. This made things a bit noisier and the experience was less than before. Still, the architecture and the art itself in a natural environment was quite good.

The day after we went to Wuppertal, where we visited a sculpture park dedicated to the works of Tony Cragg. Astounding work in a wonderful environment again. Cragg has a very strong personal style and total control over the material. There was a temporal exhibition with material by John Chamberlain in preparation so we got to see his work as well.

The third day (Saturday) we were in Dusseldorf again, where we visited an exhibition by Per Kirkeby. Although his style ticks all the right boxes (abstract, large brush strokes, at times quite colorful) I couldn't connect to the work. That was strange. We had several discussions about this and we even went back to look at it again a couple of hours later but it didn't work out.

The last day was an unexpected surprise. We went to Duisburg to visit the Küppersmühle Museum. We had never heard of it before but read nice reviews. The museum is located in an old  (industrial) mill looking over a harbour.

The collection (a private one) was overwhelming. The collector specialized in German art from 1960's to 2000. So there were Lüpertz, Baselitz, Beuys, Kiefer, Penck. The exhibition halls were big, big, big. So the large material by Kiefer and Penck (5 meters high) fit in quite nicely. I was blown away, something that didn't happen to me for years. Sitting and watching these works really captured me and I had to take a break from it all before being able to drive the way back home, taking the catalogue of the entire collection with me.
I will definitely visit this museum again next year when they have doubled the exhibition space so that the stuff that is now in their depots will also be displayed. When you're in the neighbourhood, treat yourself to a visit!

A weekend well spent!!