Exhibition Preview

Berlin, August 18, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

Kulturforum, Neue Nationalgalerie Potsdamer Straße 50, 10785 Berlin Tues.-Wed. 10–6; Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sun. 10–6

Free for release after: August 18, 2021, noon GENERALDIREKTION PRESS – COMMUNICATION – SPONSORS

Reopening of the Neue Nationalgalerie starting August 22, 2021 Stauffenbergstraße 41 10785 Berlin Following a six-years-long restoration, the Mies van der Rohe– designed Neue Nationalgalerie, an internationally acclaimed archi- MECHTILD KRONENBERG tectural icon, is celebrating its reopening with three exhibitions HEAD OF DIVISION closely related to the building. One show conceived especially for the legendary glass hall presents works by a Mies contemporary, the FIONA GEUSS sculptor Alexander Calder. Also relating to the building’s visionary PRESS OFFICER NATIONALGALERIE architecture is the one-woman show by the film and media artist Ro- Tel: +49 30 3978 34-17 sa Barba. On the spacious collection floor the Nationalgalerie is Mobile: +49 151 527 51 565 presenting a number of major works from the collection under the title “The Art of Society 1900–1945.” The museum will reopen to visi- [email protected] tors on August 22, 2021. Until August 27 these exhibitions may be www.smb.museum/presse visited during the special opening hours 10 to 8, and in addition the house will be open on Monday, August 23, 2021.

The Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as his last independent work between 1965 and 1968, is considered the visionary 20th-century architect’s legacy. With its multi-layered collection of art of the 20th century the Neue Nationalgalerie offers a unique opportunity to study the liberties and limitations of Western Modernism. Once reopened, the house hopes to become an even more ideal place to contemplate the art of the 20th century, supplementing the Nationalgalerie’s other major houses, the Alte Nationalgalerie on Museumsinsel and the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin, devoted to the art of the 19th century and contemporary art, respectively.

In its endeavor and program the Neue Nationalgalerie plans to continue its successes from former years: between its opening in September 1968 and its closing for restoration in January 2015 the Neue Nationalgalerie mounted some 130 important exhibitions, among them retrospectives of Piet Mondrian (1986), Yves Klein (1976), Francis Bacon (1986), Andy Warhol (2001/2002), and Gerhard Richter (1986 and 2012); artistic inter- ventions by Rebecca Horn (1994), Jenny Holzer (2001), and Otto Piene (2014), and the trio of shows from the collection “Modern Times. 1900– 1945” (2010/2011), “The Divided Heaven. 1945–1968” (2011–2013), and “Expansion of the Combat Zone. 1968–2000” (2013/2014). During the restoration thematic exhibitions were presented in the temporary “Neue Galerie” at the Hamburger Bahnhof, among them shows on Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (2016), Rudolf Belling (2017), and Emil Nolde (2019). Planned for the coming years are projects with the politically-minded feminist artists Barbara Kruger and Monica Bonvicini and a major exhibition on the impact of Surrealism on Germany and France under the title “Europe After

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the Rain.” The next collection show is planned for 2023, one dealing with the years between 1945 and 1970 and with particular focus on contrasts and commonalities between “East and West.” Also, the open glass hall is being made available between exhibitions for performative arts. A dance performance by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in the spring of 2022 is planned to initiate this new series of programs.

The Art Returns GENERALDIREKTION PRESS – COMMUNICATION – SPONSORS In June, despite pandemic-imposed restrictions, more than 3,000 visitors were able to admire the still empty restored house on the “Days of the Stauffenbergstraße 41 Open Door.” Now, on August 22, 2021, the art will finally return with the 10785 Berlin three exhibitions “The Art of Society 1900–1945. The Nationalgalerie Col- lection,” “Alexander Calder. Minimal / Maximal,” and “Rosa Barba. In a MECHTILD KRONENBERG Perpetual Now.” At the same time a number of the collection’s sculptures HEAD OF DIVISION have been reinstalled outside, including major works by Henry Moore, George Rickey, Eduardo Chillida, and Robert Indiana. Rediscovered and FIONA GEUSS restored works like the fountain sculpture by David Black and a figure by PRESS OFFICER NATIONALGALERIE Marina Nuñez del Prado are also on view. Jorge Pardo offers a contem- Tel: +49 30 3978 34-17 porary intervention with his artistic redesign of the café with Anni Albers Mobile: +49 151 527 51 565 motifs employing Mexican-Spanish imagery. Additional contemporary po- sitions will also be displayed in a small exhibition on the history of the [email protected] building in the basement, including works by Isa Genzken, Veronika www.smb.museum/presse

Kellndorfer, and Michael Wesely.

The Art of Society, 1900-1945: The Nationalgalerie Collection August 22, 2021–July 2, 2023 A presentation by the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin After six years of being closed for restoration the Neue Nationalgalerie is presenting again for the first time major works of Classical Modernism from the Nationalgalerie collection. “The Art of Society” displays some 250 important paintings and sculptures from the years 1900 to 1945 by artists including Otto Dix, Hannah Höch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Lotte Laserstein, and Renée Sintenis. The works assembled in the exhibition reflect social changes in a turbulent time, among them the German Empire’s reform movements, the First World War, the Weimar Republic’s Golden Twen- ties, and National Socialism with the Second World War and the Holo- caust are reflected in these works. More than a mere history of aesthetics, the collection impressively demonstrates the connection between art and social history. The open floor plan in the basement of Mies van der Rohe’s iconic architecture provides multiple perspectives on the various avant- garde movements.

Alexander Calder. Minimal / Maximal August 22, 2021–February 13, 2022 A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie –Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Alexander Calder (1898–1976) has been closely associated with the Neue Nationalgalerie for decades, thanks to his masterpiece “Têtes et Queue” (1965). The outdoor sculpture was installed for the opening of Mies van der Rohe’s iconic work of architecture and is now returning to the museum terrace for its reopening. The American modernist’s transformative mobiles, stabiles and standing mobiles range from the miniature to the monu- mental. The exhibition explores the special relationship between size, sca- le, and space in Calder’s works, while juxtaposing his organic forms with

the strict geometry of Mies’s bulding in a poetic dialogue. The open, expe- rimental approach of the installation – which was specifically conceived for the Neue Nationalgalerie’s glass hall – relies on the participation of visitors, who will be able to experience some of Calder’s works in motion.

Rosa Barba, In a Perpetual Now August 22, 2021–February 13, 2022 A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie –Staatliche Museen zu Berlin GENERALDIREKTION PRESS – COMMUNICATION – SPONSORS For its reopening the Neue Nationalgalerie presents in its Graphic Cabinet various works by the Berlin-based artist Rosa Barba, under the title “In a Stauffenbergstraße 41 Perpetual Now.” Along with noted pieces from her work from the years 10785 Berlin 2009 to 2021, a new film created for the exhibition is also being shown. With its architectural structure the large steel construction refers to Mies MECHTILD KRONENBERG van der Rohe’s early project “Brick Country House,” while also displaying HEAD OF DIVISION 15 of her cinematic and sculptural works. Specially produced for the architecture of the Neue Nationalgalerie, the expansive installation follows the FIONA GEUSS principle of cinematic montage, which plays a key role in the artist’s work. PRESS OFFICER NATIONALGALERIE

Tel: +49 30 3978 34-17 Architecture: The Building and the Refurbishment Mobile: +49 151 527 51 565 The building was planned and built by the former Bauhaus director Mies van der Rohe in the years 1965–1968. With its expansive hall of transpa- [email protected] rent glass and flowing floor plan in the collection spaces the prominent www.smb.museum/presse architect completed his lifelong search for “open space” with great virtuo- sity. In this sense the Neue Nationalgalerie is considered Mies’s legacy and an icon of Western Modernism. Two new publications and a Website produced for the building’s reopening provide extensive information about the construction and restoration history in detail. On the refurbishment: On commission from the Stiftung Preußischer Kul- turbesitz and overseen by the Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumord- nung (BBR), starting in the spring of 2016 the Neue Nationalgalerie was thoroughly restored according to monument restoration standards by the Berlin office David Chipperfield Architects. Of importance in the restoration: in consideration of the structure’s monument status, the original interi- ors and materials were preserved. Thus one of the major undertakings in this phase was the removal of roughly 35,000 separate components, for example lights, wooden built-ins, and doors, which were then reinstalled in their original locations after cleaning and restoration. In the spring of 2021 the third and last building phase—the structure’s interior fittings—was completed. So that the Neue Nationalgalerie might meet present-day re- quirements with regard to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning, fire prevention, and security, all of the building’s mechanical equipment was modernized, for example the floor heating, the air-conditioning, and the drainage system in the ground slab. On April 29, 2021, the keys to the fully renovated building were handed over to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. The ceremonial reopening will take place on August 21 in the presence of Cultural Commissio- ner Monika Grütters.

On the occasion of the reopening, a large number of publications on the architecture and its restoration, the museum’s collection, and the exhibition program will be published: www.smb-webshop.de

Also part of the reopening are special informative programs as well as special events and guided tours. The program “Ready to Enter” is sponsored by the Federal Government’s Committee on Culture and Media

Affairs and is expressly geared toward youngsters and young adults.

In the framework of their newly extended partnership (since 2021), the Nationalgalerie and Volkswagen are continuing their jointly developed format “Volkswagen ART4ALL.” Starting in November 2021 the Neue Na- GENERALDIREKTION PRESS – COMMUNICATION – SPONSORS tionalgalerie and the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Ber- lin will offer free entry once each month (Thursdays from 4 to 8), including Stauffenbergstraße 41 an accompanying artistic program, workshops, and guided tours. 10785 Berlin

In addition, beginning in the fall of 2021 Euroboden, architectural partner MECHTILD KRONENBERG of the Neue Nationalgalerie, is enabling special long-term architecture HEAD OF DIVISION formats. FIONA GEUSS The artistic redesign of the café was funded by Gaggenau Hausgeräte PRESS OFFICER NATIONALGALERIE GmbH. Tel: +49 30 3978 34-17 Mobile: +49 151 527 51 565 After August 22, 2021, during its first regular week, through Sunday, Au- gust 27, the Neue Nationalgalerie will observe the special opening hours [email protected] 10 to 8. As an exception, it will also be open on Monday, August 23. The www.smb.museum/presse bookshop and café will be open to visitors during opening hours.