Neue Pinakothek

The Neue Pinakothek is an art museum in Munich, Germany. It shows art from Europe from the 18th and 19th centuries. It is one of the most important museums for art from the 1800s in the world.

Together with the Alte Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne, the Neue Pinakothek is part of Munich's special museum area called the Kunstareal. This area is a great place to explore and learn about art.

The building

The Neue Pinakothek was finished in 1859. It was the first museum in Europe to show paintings from that time. It displayed famous European paintings. On the ground floor, there were plaster busts of famous people.

Later, in the late 20th century, the building was redesigned. Architect Alexander von Branca used a new style called Postmodernism. The building reopened in 1981. The new design mixes concrete with a stone front.

History

Ludwig I of Bavaria began collecting art in 1809 when he was still a prince, and he kept adding more pieces over time. The museum was created to show art from just before the 1800s, which many other galleries also do.

Ludwig I liked German art, especially from a style called Romanticism and a group known as the Munich School. The museum also showed works connected to Greece, which was linked to Bavaria at the time. In 1834, Carl Rottmann went to Greece to paint landscapes for Ludwig I, and these paintings now have their own special room in the museum.

From 1905 to 1914, a collection called the Tschudi Contribution added many important paintings from styles like Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Hugo von Tschudi brought these works to the museum after he could not show some paintings in Berlin. He became the director and collected many pieces from new French artists, with help from private donors.

The museum’s space for more modern art was set around 1900, including works by Henri Matisse and a style called Expressionism. One of Matisse’s paintings from the Tschudi Contribution is now shown in the Pinakothek der Moderne.

In 1915, Bavaria took ownership of the Neue Pinakothek. Later, in 1938, some paintings were taken by authorities.

Renovations

Since January 2019, the Neue Pinakothek has been closed for updates. It was first planned to reopen by 2025, but in January 2022, the date was moved to 2029.

Collection

The Neue Pinakothek is part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections. It has over 3,000 European paintings from classicism to Art Nouveau. About 400 paintings and 50 sculptures are shown there.

The museum has international paintings from the second half of the 18th century. It includes works by Francisco de Goya, Jacques-Louis David, Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, and Anton Graff.

It also shows English and Scottish paintings from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Artists include Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth, John Constable, and J. M. W. Turner. The museum has more works by Thomas Gainsborough than any other European museum outside the British Isles.

German artists of Classicism in Rome are featured, along with works from German Romanticism and the Biedermeier period. The collection includes French Realism and French Romanticism, as well as Deutschrömer (or German-Romans) artists.

There are also history paintings, German Realism, and German Impressionists on display. The museum is famous for its French Impressionists collection. It includes masterpieces by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh.

The museum also shows Symbolism and Art Nouveau works, along with sculptures from the 19th century by artists such as Bertel Thorvaldsen, Antonio Canova, and Auguste Rodin.