Two buildings in Düsseldorf, Germany that separate modern and contemporary, surprised the quality at K20, impressed the hidden power of contemporary art at K21.
Museum in Düsseldorf. The official name is “Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20/K21”. The 20th Century Museum exhibits modern artworks from the 1900s, and the 21st Century Museum exhibits contemporary art. This museum is a state art museum. Although the buildings are separate, as the official name suggests, the same museum operates.
K20 Museum
The floors are GF, 1F, and 2F. When I visited, a special exhibition was being held at GF, and an exhibition of museum collections was being held on the 1st and 2nd floors. Perhaps because Paul Klee taught at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf, there were three artworks by Paul Klee on display at the entrance on the second floor.
When stepped inside, I surprised by the high quality of the artworks. I got the impression that there are no real trashy artworks. Two works by Max Beckmann left an impression on me. I was overwhelmed by the works that revealed a person’s inner self. As I walked around the exhibition room, I noticed that there were artworks of the same type side by side. In addition to each artist, artworks with similar color usage and style are displayed side by side.
After viewing the artworks on the 2nd floor, there is a spiral staircase at the end that leads to the 1st floor. This space is vast, with a height of about 12 meters on a site space of about 15 x 50 meters. Artworks by artists who were active in the late 1900s were in this space. The view of this space from the 2nd floor is spectacular, so I recommend viewing from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor.
My overall impression is that the 20th Century Museum of Contemporary Art is, in a nutshell, an upgraded version of the Artizon Museum in Tokyo. As mentioned at the beginning, there were no trashy artworks. I believe that the richness of artworks by impressionist from the 1900s surpasses the “Center Pompidou”, “Tate Modern”, and “MOMA” in New York, which is the world’s three major modern art museums.
Major Artists：Paul Klee, Picasso, Max Beckmann, Chirico, Dali, Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, Judd, Andy Warhol
In addition, many artworks include explanations about the artist and the artwork. It is written in both German and English, so while reading, you may discover something new.
Visited in 2024
K21 Museum
K21, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art is about a 20-minute walk from the K20, 20th Century Museum of Contemporary Art. There is a place that looks like a natural pond, and a large old building stands next to it. Center space in the building is open to the ceiling. It spans from GF to 4th floor, with exhibition rooms around the atrium.
The artworks are on the 2nd and 3rd floors, with each artist’s work in separate rooms and spaces. Museums that focus on contemporary art have the impression that there are a lot of video works, but when I visited there were only a few. Installation works were major.
Many artworks seemed difficult to understand, but I could appreciate their good taste. It reminded me of the space that lined the long hallway of the “Hamburger Bahnhof” museum in Berlin. The trends may be similar. The only artist I knew was “Ed Atkins”, who I had seen in 3D video works, but I think it would be fun to take the time to appreciate each piece slowly and understand the intentions behind each piece.
GF has a cafe. It was a nice place with painted walls, so I recommend you to stop by.
Visited in 2024
Basic Information
■ Name : K20/K21 (Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20/K21)
■ Address :
K20 : K20 Grabbeplatz Grabbeplatz 5, 40213 Düsseldorf
K21 : K21 Ständehaus Ständehausstraße 1, 40217 Düsseldorf
■ Homepage : https://www.kunstsammlung.de/en/
