Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Coordinates | 48°34′46″N 7°44′10″E / 48.579444°N 7.736111°E |
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Website | en |
The Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) is an art museum in Strasbourg, France, which was founded in 1973 and opened in its own building in November 1998.
One of the largest of its kind in France, the museum houses extensive collections of paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, multimedia and design from the period between 1870 (Impressionism) and today, as well as a wide range of pieces in its photographic library. It owns a total of 18,400 works. Numerous exhibitions are organized annually, showing either the works of a particular artist or a retrospective of an artistic genre. The art library of the municipal museums (Bibliothèque d'art des musées municipaux), the art book shop of the municipal museums (Librairie d'art des musées municipaux) and a multi-purpose auditorium for conferences, films and concerts are also found in the same building. The spacious roof terrace accommodates a museum cafe.
Building
The municipal collection of modern and contemporary art of the city of Strasbourg has been constantly enlarged and enriched since 1871 and the founding of the Reichsland
The building was constructed on the left bank of the river
Collections
As of 29 December 2023, the museum's collections comprised 18,387 works in total, among which 1,799 paintings, 5,528 drawings, 906 sculptures, 4,218 prints and 3,671 photographs. Among famous artists, it comprises 431 works by
The Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg also owns the first cubist painting ever purchased by a public French collection, "Still Life" (1911) by Georges Braque, acquired in 1923, as well as the first painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti purchased by a public French collection, "Joan of Arc Kissing the Sword of Deliverance" (1863), acquired in 1996 (now displayed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts).
Further important exhibited works of fine artists are (selected):
- Carla Accardi
- Camille Pissarro
- Claude Monet
- Auguste Rodin
- Max Liebermann
- Edward Burne-Jones
- Auguste Rodin
- Francis Picabia
- Pablo Picasso
- Alexander Archipenko
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Ossip Zadkine
- Paul Klee
- Max Ernst
- Theo van Doesburg
- Sophie Taeuber-Arp
- Auguste Herbin
- Alberto Magnelli
- Jean Hélion
- Asger Jorn
- Arman
- Gilles Aillaud
- Malcolm Morley
The collection of Alsatian artists is also important, in terms of their number and at least their regional value, representing such genres as
The photographic library of the museum has several thousand photographs, from the origin of photography up until today, including works of
The artistic video collection has works of Bill Viola, Nam June Paik, Woody Vasulka, Olaf Breuning and many others.
Looted art and restitution
In 1999 a French court ordered that the museum restitute to a Jewish family a work by Gustav Klimt (Die Erfülling) looted by the Nazis during World War II. Museum officials argued that they knew nothing about its wartime past. The Klimt had been owned by Karl Grunwald, an Austrian art dealer and was confiscated in 1940 when the Nazis invaded France and sold at public auction in 1943. The non-profit Friends of Strasbourg Museums bought the painting in 1959 for a low price and donated it to the museum. [3][4] The family sued the city of Strasbourg, and the case that took 13 years to resolve. It was formally restituted in 2000.[5]
Gallery
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Alfred Sisley, Paysage avec maisons
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Paul Signac, Antibes, le soir
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Gustave Doré, Le Christ quittant le prétoire
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Garden of the Orphanage in Amsterdam
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait de Marie Le Cœur
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Femme nue dormant au bord de l'eau
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Juan Gris, Still life
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Theo van Doesburg, Fortunam suam quisque parat
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Paul Klee, Der Mensch ist der Mund des Herrn (Man is the Mouth of the Lord)
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Auguste Rodin, The Thinker (and behind: Malcolm Morley, Wall Jumpers)
References
- ^ Picture
- ^ "Navigart database of the museum's collections". navigart.fr/mamcs. 29 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "FRENCH CITY MUSEUM ORDERED TO RETURN A NAZI-LOOTED KLIMT". Chicago Tribune. 1999-01-12. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ^ "Restitution round-up: France, Austria, Italy, and Germany". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 1999-03-01. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
Literature
- Les collections du Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de la ville de Strasbourg, Éditions des musées de la ville de Strasbourg, February 2008, ISBN 978-2-901833-82-6in French
- Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Éditions des musées de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 2021, ISBN 9782351251775
External links
- Official website
- Selected works (in French)
- Online collection database, showing 18,387 works by 2,556 artists as of 29 December 2023 (in French)
- Media related to Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg at Wikimedia Commons