The Kunstgebäude is one of Stuttgart's most famous cultural landmarks. You can see its dome from miles around. It has been a home for modern art for over a hundred years. It was designed by Theodor Fischer and finished in 1913. The architect combined different styles to create a building that looks back to earlier periods. The outside arcade, which was once called "the most beautiful arched loggia north of the Alps", is inspired by the Renaissance. The dome is twenty-six metres high and has neoclassical features, while the interior was originally designed in the Art Nouveau style.
The iconic stag at the top of the dome refers to the building that once stood on this spot, the »Neue Lusthaus« or New Pavilion, a hunting lodge where the Dukes of Wurttemberg entertained their guests. The New Pavilion was destroyed in a fire in 1903.
The Kunstgebäude was originally planned as a gallery for the Württemberg Arts Society and the Stuttgart Artists' Association. From the very beginning, it had a close affinity with contemporary art. In 1913, the gallery's first exhibition featured not only traditional paintings, but also a few works with Impressionist and early Expressionist elements.
Just over a decade later, in 1924, the groundbreaking exhibition »New German Art« went much further, presenting the public with a selection of radically modern works. The director of the Staatsgalerie at the time, Otto Fischer, chose the works for the exhibition to show the most important developments in German art at that time. These included works by artists like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, Max Beckmann, Oskar Kokoschka and Ernst Barlach. So the Staatsgalerie was already a guest of the Kunstgebäude more than a hundred years ago.
The Kunstgebäude was badly damaged in the Second World War, but the dome was saved. It was rebuilt in the 1950s and was at the heart of Stuttgart's cultural life for many decades. It has been renovated recently and looks as good as new. It is now a popular and lively place for the arts, where many clubs and organisations in Stuttgart hold events and exhibitions.
Next, we will see some wall art by Katharina Grosse in Room 114.