HAMBURGER KUNSTHALLE (ART MUSEUM)

The Museum of Fine Arts in Hamburg is one of the largest art museums in the country. It is probably one of the most interesting in Germany after the art museums in Berlin and Munich. Its architecture, its collection and its museography are remarkable.

Architecture. The three buildings that make up the museum reflect the evolution of art through the centuries. The central building is also the oldest and most beautiful: it is a superb palace in red brick and terra cotta, typical of North German neoclassicism. Two Renaissance artists, Raphael and Michelangelo, frame the entrance portico. To the south, the museum was extended in 1921 by a more severe temple-like building. In 1996, the complex was completed with a gigantic cube by the architect Oswald Mathias Ungers, connected to the rest of the Kunsthalle by an underground gallery. The latter houses the contemporary artworks.

Collection. The collection is full of treasures of painting and sculpture from the 15th century to the present day, a complete panorama of art history. It offers an exciting chronological journey through the different artistic movements and also knows how to highlight the artistic production of the city. It is an educational museum that allows to understand the links between each movement, the reversals between each period. It would easily take a day to see all the works in this superb museum. If you have time, just follow the chronology and the excellent scenography of the museum, which will take you through the eras, from religious art to contemporary art.

After climbing the monumental marble staircase, you are welcomed in the room dedicated to historicist paintings: the Makart-Saal. Opposite, the monumental painting by Hans Makart: TheEntry of Emperor Charles V into Antwerp stands out in all its size (50^m2). It fascinates by the profusion of details and the splendor of the clothes. The nude bodies at the time of its exhibition (1881) caused a scandal. The artist Albrecht Dürer, who was present at the event, is depicted on the left side of the painting. In this room, other historicist and orientalist works catch the eye, such as Jean-Léon Gerôme's Phryne or Dante Gabriel Rossetti'sHelen of Troy.

The exhibition continues in the Old Masters room, which is devoted to medieval religious imagery, where visitors can contemplate the altarpieces and triptychs from St. Peter's Church in Hamburg, including the impressive altarpiece by Bertram von Minden.

The museum has a large collection of works of German Romanticism. One of the forerunners is the artist Otto Philipp Runge, who worked extensively in Hamburg. In the room dedicated to him, the eye is torn between the mawkishness of his allegorical paintings and the accuracy of his portraits and self-portraits. A little further on, you should not miss the Caspar David Friedrich room, where you can stop for a moment in front of the famous masterpieces of the Romantic artist, notably The Sea of Ice, and other mystical landscapes, sunsets and ruins. The Traveler above the sea of clouds will immerse you in a moment of contemplation. It is the masterpiece of the museum, a work known throughout the world.

The room devoted toImpressionism is particularly beautiful and contains some masterpieces. French visitors and lovers of impressionism will undoubtedly be moved by Edouard Manet's famous Nana and paintings by Monet (such as Waterloo Bridge), Renoir, Degas or Cézanne. As for German impressionism, the Berlin painter Max Liebermann is the most represented.

Modern art is formidably well represented with a collection of works by Max Beckmann, Franz Marc, Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, whose superb Golden Fish wriggles under the roof of this must-see museum. The self-portrait of Anita Rée is also worth a stop to exchange a few glances with the Hamburg artist. You will also see mobiles by Calder and sculptures by Giacometti. Stop also in front of Delaunay's Les Fenêtres simultanées sur la ville or the works of Kandinsky or Fernand Léger. We finish this part with a room on surrealism with paintings by Magritte, Ernst, Desnos or Dali.

We then pass, through the basement, in the Cube, a recent building built in 1996 to house contemporary art. Even the architecture of the building matches the works on display, a superb union of the place and its contents! Major artists such as Gerhard Richter, Bruce Nauman, Georg Baselitz or Rosemarie Trockel are exhibited here. In this part, the art comes out of the paintings and takes the form of conceptual installations. It is the deconstruction, the final point of this stroll through the centuries.

If you have time, the museum has another amazing feature, a gallery of 9 rooms called " Transparent Museum " which allows you to better understand the work of the curators and to realize all the process that took place before we can discover these works. Among other things, you can see how the collections are put together, how to distinguish a forgery with the specific case of a painting by Chirico, and how to present the works in the rooms.