Museum Brandhorst

Both the exterior and the works you'll find inside this museum are modern, unconventional and fascinating. Brandhorst was opened in 2009 to house the private collection of Udo and Annette Brandhorst, heiress to the Henkel business empire. They had amassed a collection of one thousand 20^th and 21^st century works of art.

The focus of the museum is not to take you though the history of contemporary art, but rather to examine specific artists in depth. Over 170 works by American artist Cy Twombly form the core of the collection, including Lepanto, a colorful 12 sided room. The museum holds Europe's largest collection of works by Andy Warhol with over 100 pieces including his Self Portrait (1986) and Natalie Wood (1962). The controversial artist Damien Hirst is represented by his piece Waste (Twice), an instillation featuring two cabinets overflowing with medical waste. There are also works by James Lee Byars, Bruce Nauman and Mike Kelley. There are more classic modern artists in the collection like Picasso, Sigmar Polke, Mario Merz and Joseph Beuys. American artists are represented by Richard Tuttle, Robert Gober and John Chamberlain. There are multimedia pieces by Isaac Julien, Stan Douglas, David Claerbout and Anri Sala.

The museum exterior is rectangular with a trapezium-shaped section which appears to grow towards the northern part of the building. The two parts of the building are connected by a ribbon of glazing which flows towards the entrance. There is a corner window which runs along the length of the building letting in natural light. There is a row of horizontal folded and perforated sheet metal which forms a background for 36,000 ceramic vertical rods in 23 colored glazes. The building's colors and texture looks different from different angles. Inside the exhibition galleries are plain white with wooden floors spread over two floors.