Berlinische Galerie

The Fine Arts Collection contains around 5000 objects. Among them are works by prominent artists such as Max Beckmann, Hannah Höch, Naum Gabo, Georg Baselitz, Wolf Vostell, Ursula Sax and John Bock. Works by numerous artist groups are also represented, e.g. the Berlin Secession, Dada Berlin, the Eastern European avant-gardes, the Neue Wilde and the young art scene after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Golden Twenties form a focal point.[4]

The collection Prints and Drawings comprises around 15,000 sheets, including prints and above all drawings. The works represent the diversity of art historical developments in Berlin: from Dada Berlin, late Expressionism from 1914, the Eastern European avant-garde of the 1920s to New Objectivity, New Figuration of the 1960s, East Berlin art since the construction and fall of the Wall, and contemporary drawing.[4]

With around 73,000 photographs, the photographic collection is one of the most important in Germany. In addition to portrait, architectural and urban photography, the focus is also on advertising and fashion photography, photojournalistic works, photomontages, photograms and photographic concept works. A special feature is the artistic photography of the GDR. The museum also promotes contemporary Berlin photography through continuous and extensive acquisitions.[4]

The architecture collection comprises around 300,000 plans, 80,000 photographs, 4,000 design cartons for stained glass and mosaics, 2,500 models and around 800 metres of file material from estates, competitions and archives. The materials document Berlin's urban planning and architecture from 1900 to the present.[4]

The collection preserves documentary material on artists, artist groups, gallery owners and art scholars (including the Art Nouveau artist Fidus, the November Group, the Ferdinand Möller Gallery and the sculptors Naum Gabo and Hans Uhlmann). A special focus is the extensive archive holdings on the Berlin DADA movement consisting of the estates of Hannah Höch and Raoul Hausmann.[4]

On the upper floor, the museum's permanent exhibition entitled Art in Berlin 1880–1980 presents a selection of the main works in its collection from the fields of painting, graphic art, sculpture, photography and architecture in chronological order on more than 1,000 m² (11,000 sq ft), updated by discoveries and new acquisitions.[6] In October 2020, the tour of the collection was fundamentally renewed and presents art from the painting of the imperial period at the end of the 19th century to works of Expressionism, the Eastern European avant-garde, the architecture of post-war modernism and the Heftige Malerei of the 1970s.[4]

The special exhibition programme on the ground floor ranges from classical modernism to contemporary art in Berlin. These are complemented by series of events with films, concerts, artist talks, curator tours and lectures.[4]