After six years of extensive restoration work, the Neue Nationalgalerie and its magnificent collection of 20th century visual art — numbering around 1,800 pieces— is open. Designed in 1968 by Mies van der Rohe, the museum’s steel and glass structure beautiful showcases the museum’s selection of the museum’s 1,800 pieces. The renovation cost around $167 million (€140 million).
The lower level collection room shows newly curated permanent exhibit, The Art of Society, and features about 250 paintings and sculptures from 20th century artists such as Otto Dix, Hannah Höch and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The avant-garde and experience works of Expressionism, Cubism and Dada are on full display as well as exhibits featuring current topics such as the emancipation of women in the Weimar Republic.
In addition, there is a green outdoor sculpture garden, including a work of art, Sky Piece, by David Blanc. The exhibition, Minimal/Maximal, focuses on the works of Alexander Calder. The museum’s collection contains magnificent milestones of painting and sculpture – from classical modernism to the 1980s. German Expressionism is on full display including the works of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix and Max Beckmann. Dalí, Miró and Picasso are highlights of the Surrealism period, while Klee and Kandinsky provide insights into the teachings of the Bauhaus – the world-famous art and design school. On large canvases, colorful and abstract works by the American painters Barnett Newman, Frank Stella and Ellsworth Kelly herald a new era.
The museum is closed on Monday and there is a timed entry into the museum, meaning that visitors can only enter the museum during that allotted time period, but may stay as long as they want. Those under 18 are free, but all visitors ages 6 and up must wear a FFP-2 mouth and nose cover.
