Since its foundation in 1902 in Hagen, Germany, the Museum Folkwang has evolved into a globally recognised and respected exhibition house for contemporary art. Here, for the first time in Germany, the pioneers of Modernism, such as Cézanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, and Matisse, were on display in a public collection. Its founder, Karl Ernst Osthaus, continued to promote the artistic avant-garde even after the museum moved to Essen, Germany, in 1922. Despite severe setbacks caused by the devastating art policies of the Nazi dictatorship and the destruction of the building during the Second World War, the museum was able to reopen in a new facility in 1960. In 2010, the museum then opened a new building, designed by the renowned architect David Chipperfield, encompassing 16,000 square metres of floor space.
Today, the Museum Folkwang is home to one of the most important collections of 19th-century German and French painting, classical Modernism and post-1945 art. It also houses extensive graphic and photographic collections, as well as the affiliated German Poster Museum.
The originals of the artworks shown here are on display at the Museum Folkwang.
