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The Bucerius Kunst Forum is an international exhibition centre in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 2002 through the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius foundation. It is named after Gerd Bucerius and his wife, and located directly beside the Hamburg Rathaus. The exhibition centre shows 3 - 4 exhibitions per year, in co-operation with other museums and collections.[1] The exhibition centre participates in the Long Night of Museums.[2]
The Bucerius Kunst Forum's mission is to showcase art of high quality in new contexts. The exhibitions focus on one topic, epoch or artist. They are intended to show artistic coherences, relationships between epochs and disciplines and to build bridges between ancient and modern art. The art pieces are to be viewed under a new aspect: an exhibition to the oeuvre of Henri Matisse gathered his portraits for the first time; the exhibition about Frida Kahlo devoted itself first to the connection between Mexican and European art. Thus also connoisseurs are to achieve new impressions.
The manageable size of the display area induces a precise focus of the topic and a limitation on 100 exhibits. At visitor-surveys three special experiences are named consistently: the visitors are delighted to be able to see the whole exhibition within one hour, without being exhausted; they have the satisfying feeling that their attention lasts for everything; and they were able to connect the experience of art with an increase in knowledge.
Despite the focus on a broad public demographic interested in the arts, the exhibitions of the Bucerius Kunst Forum are scientifically sound. Frequently they are preceded by a symposium, which assembles international specialists of one topic. During the symposium topics and theses of the exhibition are discussed. Until the summer of 2008 these symposiums took place at the Warburg Haus, Hamburg; since the winter of 2008 they have been hosted at the Bucerius Kunst Forum. The contributions are printed in widely illustrated exhibition catalogues, which have been published by Hirmer Verlag since 2005.
For most of the exhibitions the exhibits are assembled from various museums around the world. Thus "Terror and Desire. The Temptation of St. Anthony from Hieronymus Bosch to Max Ernst" showed exhibits from more than 40 lenders from 10 different states, while "High Society. American Portraits of the Gilded Age" gathered exhibits from 32 lenders, among which were exhibits from 29 different museums of the United States. Occasionally exhibitions show thematic presentations, which are chosen from the collection of one institution, such as the Mannerism exhibition from the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum in Budapest or the exhibition "New World. Creating an American Art" with pieces from the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford (Connecticut).
It belongs to the concepts of the house to design the display area for every new exhibition in fundamentally new colours and architecture to convey a new spatial experience every time.
The thematic range of the exhibitions is broadly defined and reaches from ancient times to the present age. From the field of archaeology there were exhibitions about the Etruscans, Cleopatra and "Painting for Eternity. The Tombs of Paestum". Extra-European cultures were discussed during "Art of the Silk Road. The Allure of Buddha", old masters through an exhibition about Lucas Cranach the Elder as well as "Greco, Velázquez, Goya. Spanish Paintings from German Collections", eras and periods of time through "Descent into the World. The Art of Mannerism in Europe" and "Between Heaven and Hell. Medieval Art".
Themed exhibitions discussed "Cloud Pictures" or "The Temptation of St. Anthony". The biggest thematic project so far was a trilogy about 150 years of American art from 1800 to 1950. From 2007 to 2009 it presented the three respective leading categories of paintings of the United States in three consecutive parts: 19th-century landscapes, portraits around 1900 and finally the urbanism of the years 1900 to 1950.
The "Bucerius Kunst Club", founded at the end of 2002, is the non-profit friends’ association of the Bucerius Kunst Forum. The wide programme of events during the exhibitions with technical lectures, readings, movies and concerts, excursions and art journeys are made possible by the Bucerius Kunst Club's subscriptions, donations and voluntary activities.
The club finances both the children's programme and the scientific traineeship of the house. This traineeship gives junior scientists a year-long education in the exhibition business.
The approximately 1,900 members of the club benefit depending on the category of their membership: they receive the exhibition catalogues for free, get free entry into the exhibition at any time and are invited to the openings and previews. They obtain reductions for the events and are allowed to participate in a wide offer of exclusive activities such as art journeys, day trips, seminars, and tours through the other culture institutions of Hamburg.
The Bucerius Kunst Forum is located at the Rathausmarkt, on the corner of the Alter Wall with the adjacent Rathaus and the building of the Hamburger Börse (Handelskammer) in the city centre, i.e., the historic city. On one side it adjoins the Alsterfleet with the Rathausschleuse.
The representative landmarks building was built for the Reichsbank-Hauptstelle Hamburg starting in 1914 (construction 1914–1916, completion 1918/1919, alteration and restoration 1981-1983[3]), which is also pointed out by the inscription of the tympanum of the façade on both sides of the imperial coat of arms. The neoclassical building is decorated with sculptures which symbolize the commercial life of the Hamburg area (fishermen, blacksmiths, merchants, sailors) and medallions of the three emperors of the realm. Economic power and armed forces are symbolized by figures of Mercury and a knight above the entry of Alter Wall with a revetted marble staircase and foyer (the material originates from the former German colony of Togo).
The entrance - leading into the museum - at the Rathausmarkt was created especially for the Bucerius Kunst Forum. Formerly, the ticket hall was located in the lower exhibition area. The eight pillars decorated with mosaics and arranged in an octagon belong to the original structure. They are also to be found in the display area on the first floor. Overall the display area amounts to about 850 square meters.
During the renovation and rearrangement of the rooms by architect's office Jan Störmer the safety devices and air conditioners were installed, which guarantee ideal exhibition terms and are to match the highest demands of the leading museums in the world.
The Ian-Karan-Auditorium, the Lounge with a view onto the Rathausmarkt and Alster, and the restaurant Season are also rented out for private events.
As a young exhibition house with international alignment the Bucerius Kunst Forum depends on co-operation with museums domestic and abroad. It may be that curators from other houses conceptualize exhibitions as guest curators or that exceptional pieces from international museum collections are on display. As a double exhibition "The Etruscans. Pictures of Life on Earth – Pictures of Death" (2004) was displayed simultaneously at the Bucerius Kunst Forum and at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
Some exhibitions at Bucerius Kunst Forum were conceptualized in co-operation with other houses. Among those were:
"Greco, Velázquez, Goya" (2005): conceptualized with Old Masters Picture Gallery, Dresden, and displayed there after its duration in Hamburg. Afterwards it was shown at the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest.
"Rodin in Germany" (2006): conceptualized with the sculpture collection of the State Art Collection at Dresden and displayed there after its duration in Hamburg.
"Matisse. People Masks Models" (2009): conceptualized with the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and displayed there first.
"Ferdinand Hodler and Cuno Amiet" (2012): conceptualized with the Solothurn Art Museum and displayed there after its duration in Hamburg.
"Dionysus. Intoxication and Ecstasy" (2013): conceptualized with the State Art Collection at Dresden and displayed there after its duration in Hamburg.
"Miró. Painting as Poetry" (2015): conceptualized with the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen and displayed there after its duration in Hamburg.
Another form of co-operation is the takeover of an exhibition conceptualized by the Bucerius Kunst Forum by another museum. Former second stations were:
The Bucerius Kunst Forum is an institution of ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius in the legal form of a non-profit limited company. The foundation is the sole shareholder and is financing the Bucerius Kunst Forum with the income of its endowment capital to about two-thirds. The remainder is earned in ticket and catalogue sales as well as postcard sales and renting out parts of the exhibition house for exclusive events. The Bucerius Kunst Forum does not utilize public funds.
Exhibitions with many international loans as the America-Trilogy were supplied by foreign foundations as the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Max Kade Foundation. Companies like ExxonMobil, Latham & Watkins or Bankhaus Lampe as well as Lampe Asset Management engage themselves in individual projects as sponsors. There was an institutional partnership with HSH Nordbank for the duration of three years from 2007 to 2009.
Founding director of the Bucerius Kunst Forum was the former director of the Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf, Heinz Spielmann, who was leading the House until 2005. Ortrud Westheider was the director until 15 February 2016. From June 2016 to May 2019 Franz Wilhelm Kaiser was the director and since June 2019 Kathrin Baumstark is the director of the Bucerius Kunst Forum. The CEO of the Bucerius Kunst Forum is Andreas Hoffmann.[4]
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