English

MODIGLIANI?
TÊTE DE FEMME
Expropriated in Paris in 1941
Acquired in 1949 by the City of Hanover from the collection of Dr. Conrad Doebbeke (1889-1954) from Berlin
17.2. BIS 26.5.24

On January 26, 2024, the Cultural Committee of the City of Hanover unanimously recommended that the painting "Tête de femme" by Amedeo Modigliani (circle) be restituted to the community of heirs of the Jewish writer, journalist and artist Michel Georges Michel (1883-1985). The work was confiscated in Paris in 1941 and is now being returned after being shown once again at the Sprengel Museum in Hanover. An installation by the artist Raphaël Denis, whose work focuses on the expropriation of Jewish collectors, artists and dealers in France during the Nazi occupation and who was able to track down a decisive trace in the case of the Modigliani, provides the framework for the presentation.

RAPHAËL DENIS
LA LOI NORMALE DES ERREURS (THE NORMAL LAW OF ERRORS)
The artist Raphaël Denis (lives and works in Paris) is researching the expropriation of Jewish-owned works of art by the National Socialists in France. During the preparations for his installation "Les transactions Göring-Rochlitz" - currently on show at the Kunsthaus Zürich as part of the presentation of the Bührle Collection - Denis was able to identify an expropriated painting from the collection of the state capital Hanover, which is now kept in the Sprengel Museum Hanover. This painting, labeled "Modigliani, Portrait de femme" and signed "MGM1" on documents.

Denis examines the exchange transactions between Hermann Göring (1893-1946) and the German art dealer Gustav Rochlitz (1889-1972). Modigliani's "Tête de femme" was part of this exchange. In 1941, the painting was confiscated from the apartment of the Jewish writer, journalist and artist Michel Georges-Michel (1883-1985).

The installation in the Sprengel Museum Hannover illustrates in detail the number of works of art that have been exchanged to date. These swaps also include confiscated French Impressionist paintings from the collection of the Jewish gallery owner and collector Paul Rosenberg (1881-1951), who was a particular patron of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

With many thanks to David Zivie and the team of the French Ministry of Culture (Mission de recherche et de restitution des biens culturels spoliés entre 1933 et 1945).

Curator: Annette Baumann

Press conference: 15.2.24, 11.00 am pm

Official opening: 16.2.24, 7.00 pm

17.2. TO 16.6.24

Pablo Picasso (1881 to 1973) and Max Beckmann (1884 to 1950) are key figures of modernism and were both instrumental in redefining figurative painting in the first half of the 20th century. So far it has not been possible to compare their works in an exhibition. An opportunity to do so is now being offered by the extensive presentation of around 200 works from the outstanding collections of the Sprengel Museum Hannover and the Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal. These are being supplemented by loans from, among other sources, the Centre Pompidou and the Musée Picasso in Paris, the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Bavarian State Painting Collections and private collections. The exhibition allows a direct comparison of the artistic careers of Pablo Picasso and Max Beckmann for the first time.

The tension-filled dialogue is dedicated to the upheavals of the personal experience of two World Wars, the artistic reappraisal of the world and male-female relationships plagued by violence and oppression. Picasso, with his Mediterranean lightness and unbridled fondness for experimentation, meets Beckmann with his somewhat Nordic disposition orientated towards the maximum concentration of form and content. The two artists arrived at different formal solutions and responses to the issues of their time, yet there are always astonishing points of contact.

Picasso and Beckmann created metaphors for the crises and rifts of the 20th century. The timeless, never-ending human drama becomes comprehensible in these artists’ mythical imagery, whose message has retained its relevance through to present day.

The exhibition has been organised in cooperation with the Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal and enjoys the patronage of François Delattre, the French Ambassador to Germany.

Curators: Reinhard Spieler, Alexander Leinemann

Press conference: 15.2.24, 11.00 am

Official opening: 16.2.24, 7.00 pm

HOW-TO: PABLO PICASSO I MAX BECKMANN

DURATION

The exhibition "Pablo Picasso | Max Beckmann. Mensch – Mythos - Welt" will be on display from February 17th to June 16th, 2024.

ADMISSION

Museum admission: 7 euro, reduced 4 euro. One ticket is valid for all exhibitions in our house for one day. Our "Free Friday" still applies to collection presentations and other special exhibitions, but not to admission to Picasso/Beckmann.

GUIDED TOURS

We also offer private guided tours at your preferred time (within opening hours). A one-hour tour for up to 25 people costs 80 euros. Booking inquiries are handled by Petra Sollorz via email: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!.

AUDIOGUIDE AND QR CODES

For the exhibition, we have produced individual audio pieces. They can be listened to on our website. In the exhibition itself, QR codes lead to the respective audio pieces. These can be found as stickers in front of the respective works and can be scanned with your own smartphone. For the best sound experience and out of consideration, we recommend bringing your own headphones.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Weekends and Fridays are typically very busy days. If you wish to avoid crowds, visiting during the week is advised. Our lockers are available in limited quantities, which is why large bags should preferably be left at home. To use the lockers, users need 1 euro coins as a deposit. A cloakroom is available free of charge to all visitors.

CATALOG

A catalog has been published for the exhibition – price point: 32 euros, available in the museum shop.

DIRECTIONS

Please note: Until the end of 2024, the stop "Maschsee/Sprengel Museum" on lines 100 and 200 will be discontinued. Line 800 will continue to serve the museum stop.

16.3. TO 23.6.24

In 2023, the Museum received a donation from the estate of the artist Jean Leppien (1910 Lüneburg to 1991 Paris/Boulogne), one of the outstanding abstract artists of the post-war period. The works of the donation, dating from 1946 to 1991, demonstrate the broad spectrum of his technical capacities and artistic expression. We thank Jean Leppien‘s heirs and VAN HAM Art Estate. The exhibition will be opened together with „Günter Haese zum 100. Geburtstag“.

Curator: Carina Plath

Press conference: 14.3.24, 11.00 am

Official opening: 15.3.24, 7 pm

16.3. TO 28.7.24

Günter Haese, renowned sculptor and participant in the documenta and the Biennale, would have celebrated his 100th birthday on February 18, 2024. To mark this anniversary, the museum is dedicating a special presentation to him, focusing on Haese’s sculptures of geometric precision and minimalist design. The exhibtion will be opend together with “Jean Leppien. Die Schenkung”.

Curator: Reinhard Spieler

Press conference: 14.3.24, 11.00 am

Official opening: 15.3.24, 7 pm

10.4. TO 28.7.24

All of them from northern Germany and from the same generation, the show combines four artists and their works, which are enriching the graphic collection of the Sprengel Museum Hannover as donations and bequests. With works by Dietrich Helms (1933 Osnabrück to 2022 Hamburg), Arnold Leissler (1939 Hanover to 2014 Hanover), Siegfried Neuenhausen (*1931 Dormagen, lives in Hanover) and Kai Sudeck (1928 Lübeck to 1995 Ratzeburg). The exhibtion will be opend together with “Peter Tuma. Aufkommende Unruhe”

Curator: Karin Orchard

Press conference: 9.4.24, 11.00 am

Official opening: 9.4.24, 6.30 pm

10.4. TO 28.7.24

Peter Tuma (*1938 in Wolsdorf, near Helmstedt) looks back on a career as a painter and graphic artist spanning six decades. „Aufkommende Unruhe“ not only describes one of Tuma‘s works,but also reflects the feeling that overcomes him in the face of climate change and the current social and political circumstances. The exhibition shows 16 large-format works that depict current issues such as advancing climate change, the destruction of the environment and digitalization.The exhibtion will be opend together with “Nordlichter.”.

Curator: Talia Walther

Press conference: 9.4.24, 11.00 am

Official opening: 9.4.24, 6.30 pm

THE ADVENTURE OF ABSTRACTION
FROM 23.4.23

Reconstruction of Kurt Schwitters' Merzbau, Photo: Herling/Herling/Werner, Sprengel Museum Hannover

In “The Adventure of Abstraction”, the Sprengel Museum Hannover is showing a significant part of its collection in the museum’s newly fitted rooms. The selection provides an overview of major manifestations of and developments in non-representational art from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. The starting point and focus of the tour are the reconstructions of El Lissitzky’s “Cabinet of the Abstract” (1927) and Kurt Schwitters’ “Merz Construction” (1933). Both rooms, which previously existed in Hannover, embody influential stages in abstract art and allow the visitor to directly experience the interplay of colour and form.

In addition to outstanding works by Schwitters and Lissitzky, Classical Modernism is represented by works by Piet Mondrian, Hans Arp and Paul Klee, among others. From the post-war period are works by, among others, Willi Baumeister, Pierre Soulages and K.O. Götz. These lead on to contemporary artists, such as Pia Fries, Pippilotti Rist and Wolfgang Tillmans. Awaiting discovery in the 18 rooms of “The Adventure of Abstraction” are a cabinet of graphic works, expansive media artworks and abstract films from the early days of the medium.

ARTISTS IN HANNOVER UNDER NATIONAL SOCIALISM

On the museum’s mezzanine floor, another area opens up that takes a look at Hannover artists and art from 1933 to 1945. Taking nine people as examples and tracing historical events, the exhibition illuminates the situation of art and artists under National Socialism and asks how the political conditions impacted on the institutions and artists’ lives and work, museum staff and collectors. Finally, we investigate the extent to which the Nazi past continues to affect the museum to this day.

Curator of “The Adventure of Abstraction”: Isabel Schulz

Curatorial assistant for “The Adventure of Abstraction”: Julius Osman

ELEMENTARY PARTS. BASIC PARTS OF THE SPRENGEL MUSEUM HANNOVER AND ITS ART
13.4.19 TO 25.2.24

The exhibition ELEMENTARY PARTS poses simple and obvious questions about art that nevertheless prove to be absolutely fundamental: What is art? What are works of art actually made of, which materials are used? Which formal languages do they employ? Which reality (or realities) do they refer to between the figurative, the abstract and the virtual? What is art about, what kind of narratives does it tell, and how does it reflect history? In nine themed rooms, the exhibition unfolds an impressive spectrum of the fundamental possibilities of the material, formal and expressive languages of art and its levels of meaning.

The main topics are colour, material, form/shape, realities, history/narratives, natural and human shaped spaces, strong emotions and finally faces, which ultimately reflect our image of human kind. The exhibition brings together a total of more than 150 works from painting, sculpture, drawing, graphic art and film/video (installation) – all part of the Sprengel Museum Hannover’s collection or on permanent loan. They cover a period stretching from the dawn of Modern Art at the beginning of the 20th century to the immediate present. The selection ranges from Max Beckmann, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger and Paul Klee via Louise Bourgeois, Sean Scully, Timm Ulrichs, Niki de Saint Phalle and Gerhard Richter to Marlene Dumas, Andrea Fraser, Bruce Nauman, Julian Charrière, Julius von Bismarck, Christoph Girardet and Julia Schmid.

At the beginning of the exhibition, a further room is dedicated to the Sprengel Museum Hannover itself, thematising the basic elements that make up the institution: What is the legal basis for relations between the museum and its sponsors, donors, (permanent) lenders and partners? What collections does it consist of? What departments are there and what are they each responsible for?

With ELEMENTARY PARTS, the Sprengel Museum Hannover is celebrating both the 50th anniversary of the donation of Bernhard and Margrit Sprengel and the 40th year of the museum’s existence.