Lenbachhaus

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München

Since reopening in May 2013, the Lenbachhaus presents itself in a striking new guise. After four years of construction, the building appears transformed on the outside as much as the inside; the most conspicuous new feature is the façade clad in brass-colored metal. The three-wing complex as it stood in 1929 at the time of the establishment of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Municipal Gallery in the Lenbachhaus) consisting of Lenbach's studio building, his villa and an extension has remained virtually unchanged. Several eminent works of sculpture now grace the wonderful historic garden. The new approach to the gallery via the museum plaza facing the Propylaea presents the new wing by Foster + Partners from its most splendid side. The building is open, via the terrace, toward Klenze’s classicist ensemble around Königsplatz, with the exhibition rooms on the upper floors sheltered by the closed façade and Lenbach’s studio wing, designed by Gabriel von Seidl, adjoining on the right-hand side.

The museum’s interior, too, presents an exciting dialogue between old and new architecture. Lenbach’s historic villa, which had been wedged between adjacent former neighboring buildings, has been detached and now emerges within the museum as an exhibit in its own right.

Roughly half of the museum’s total floor space is entirely new construction; all other sections have undergone thorough renovation. The exhibition and event spaces now meet all the facilities and amenities a modern museum operation requires.

In addition to the historic Lenbach rooms, visitors will once again find our stunning collection of the art of the Blue Rider group (Der Blaue Reiter) as well as the works of nineteenth-century Munich painters. This division of our collection is now enhanced by landscapes from the Christoph Heilmann Foundation, whose generosity enables us to present works of the Dresden Romantics, the Berlin and Düsseldorf schools, and the influential Barbizon school of painting as well.