Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [255]
NEUE PINAKOTHEK
Picking up where the Alte Pinakothek leaves off, the Neue Pinakothek (Map; 2380 5195; Barer Strasse 29; adult/child €7/5, Sun €1; 10am-6pm, to 8pm Wed, closed Tue) contains an extensive collection of 18th- to early-20th-century paintings and sculpture, from rococo to Jugendstil (art nouveau).
The core of the exhibit is 19th-century German art from the private stock of King Ludwig I, who had nearly 400 paintings when he died in 1868. An entire room is dedicated to Hans Marées (1837–87), whose country scenes are infused with a touch of sentimentality.
Munich society painters Wilhelm von Kaulbach and Karl von Piloty are given space, reflecting a renewed interest in German history in the late 19th century. The king had a special affinity for the ‘Roman Germans’, a group of neoclassicists centred around Johann Koch, who favoured Italian landscapes.
The most memorable canvases include those by Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, such as his Riesengebirge Landscape with Rising Mist. Like these landscapes, the works of English portraitist Thomas Gainsborough display strong emotionalism and an ominous mood.
Other masters on display with a high recognition value include Edgar Degas, Gauguin, Manet and Van Gogh; one of the latter’s Sunflowers (1888) is on display.
A free English-language audioguide can be picked up at the entrance.
PINAKOTHEK DER MODERNE
Opened in 2002 after six years of construction, Pinakothek der Moderne (Map; 2380 5360; Barer Strasse 40; adult/child €10/7, Sun €1; 10am-6pm, to 8pm Thu, closed Mon) is Germany’s biggest collection of modern art. The spectacular interior is dominated by a huge eyelike dome, spreading natural light throughout the soft white galleries over four floors.
The museum pools several collections under a single roof: a survey of 20th-century art, plus design, sculpture, photography and video. A variety of sources were tapped, including the Bavarian royal family and the State Graphics Collection of 400,000 drawings, prints and engravings.
There are oils and prints by household names such as Picasso, Dali, Klee, Kandinsky and Warhol, mostly lesser-known works that will be fresh to many visitors. The basement covers the evolution of design from the industrial revolution to today. VW Beetles, Eames chairs and early Apple Macs stand alongside more obscure items such as AEG’s latest electric kettles in 1909.
MUSEUM BRANDHORST
Opened next door to the Pinakothek der Moderne in mid-2009, the new multicoloured Museum Brandhorst (Map; 2380 5118; www.museum-brandhorst.de; Theresienstrasse 35a; adult/child €7/5, Sun €1; 10am-6pm, to 8pm Thu, closed Mon) was purpose-built to house a 700-piece private collection of modern and contemporary works belonging to Udo and Annette Brandhorst. Wow-factor is provided by Picasso, Warhol, Cy Twombly and even Damien Hirst, plus a number of lesser-known artists.
SIEMENSFORUM
Southeast of the Pinakotheks is the SiemensForum (Map; 6363 2660; Oskar-von-Miller-Ring 20; admission free; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri). It’s a fun, hands-on kind of place, with five floors of promotional exhibits on electronics and microelectronics, ranging from the telegraph to the PC.
LENBACHHAUS
Leading late-19th-century painter Franz von Lenbach used his considerable fortune to construct a residence in Munich in the 1880s. His widow sold it to the city and threw in a bunch of his works as part of the deal. The villa houses the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Map; www.lenbachhaus.de; Luisenstrasse 33), but is closed for vital renovation until at least 2012. When it reopens, the staggering range of 19th-century masterpieces by great artists such as Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky will be back on show.
OTHER MUSEUMS
Munich’s oldest museum is the Glyptothek (Map; 286 100; Königsplatz 3; adult/concession €3.50/2.50, Sun €1, combined with Antikensammlungen €5.50/3.50; 10am-5pm, 10am-8pm Thu, closed Mon). Like all the buildings on Königsplatz, Glyptothek is a piece of Greek fantasy. Classical busts, portraits of Roman kings and sculptures from a Greek