Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Tuesday 16 April 2013

The Collection Bayer


Britta Huegel

When you are in Berlin at the Potsdamer Platz, not everybody knows that you have to walk only a few steps to find the impressing museum, the Martin-Gropius-Bau. The building was erected in 1877 as an Arts and Crafts Museum. Since 1981, when the ruin had been restaurated, you can not only see exhibitions of photography and art, but also admire the building with its high atrium.  

Britta Huegel



Britta Huegel

Yesterday (they are open on Monday) I went to see the Collection Bayer (from the chemical and pharmaceutical international concern).  The paintings, normally hanging in the offices of their (important, I guess) employees are now "out of office", because the concern is celebrating its 150 years company anniversary. In 1909 Carl Duisberg asked Max Liebermann to paint a portrait of him, which was the foundation. At first the concern bought paintings to educate their employees - now they own over 2000 works of art.  
It is the first time that 240 of their works of art are presented to the public. And the names of the artists are exquisite: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Pechstein, Emil Nolde,Max Beckmann, Lyonel Feininger, Georges Braques, Pablo Picasso, Joan Mirós, Gerhard Richter, Sam Francis, Andy Warhol - to name a few
The exhibition is divided into four parts: German Expressionism, École Paris, After-War-and Informal Art, and American modern art.  I liked a drawing of David Hockney, "Rapunzel" very much, and of course Emil Nolde's paintings. As  nobody is allowed to photograph, you have to put up with the poster, sorry.  



10 comments:

  1. You are very fortunate to live in a city that offers so many opportunities for filling the soul!

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    1. Dear Pondside,
      I am grateful for that - and happy that now we could choose where we want to live (though husband has to commute).

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  2. Oh, I agree with Pondside, Britta.

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    1. Thank you! It's so nice to be able to sit outside again in sunshine, drink a coffee - and people are actually smiling.

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  3. What happened to your other post about Boston? What I was able to read on the dashboard was beautiful. I only found out about it this morning and, together with everyone else, am grieved and shocked.

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    1. I found out this morning too and was so sad and shocked. I put the post on draft, because I thought that it is not right to say something trivial-positive, considering the awful fate some of them suffered.

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  4. I drove toward the Bayer factory once, and I could see the yellow smoke from the chimneys from 50 miles...

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    1. In "The Big Sleep" Philip Marlowe says: "There's no clean way to make a million."

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  5. Clever we humans are clever gits
    That dome is beautiful

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  6. I like it too - the light coming through it is beautiful. Welcome here - I just came back from Hildesheim and found your comment, thank you!

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