Berlin, Germany. After gazing out the modern art in chronological order, enter the cafe and sip a coffee while seeing the chandeliers and wallpaper.
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Berlin. Berlin has many contemporary art museums and galleries, but this museum collects works from the 1900s onwards. Although it opened in 1928, the building was completely renovated in 2015 and reopened in 2021.
Although it is in the center of Berlin, it is a little far from the so-called “Museum Island”, where many museums and art galleries gathers. There are five famous museums and art galleries on Museum Island, but the name of three of these five ; “New Museum”, “Old National Gallery” and “Old Museum.” Be careful because there is a possibility of making a mistake.
Enter the building from the first floor. The space is about 50m x 50m, and the walls are entirely made of glass, and the ceiling is about 10m high. There are 40 stones on the floor. This stone work is the only one in this space. The exhibition room is on the first basement floor.
The exhibition room on the first basement floor has a decent amount of space, but it is nothing special as an exhibition space. The works on display are mainly works from the mid-1900s onwards. A wide range of works including expressionism, cubism, pop art, and video works. A large number of works are spread throughout the exhibition room. This is an excellent exhibition in terms of understanding modern and contemporary art chronologically and by format. In Japan, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo may be nearby. The description of it as a textbook-like museum fits perfectly.
Although the works is around the globe, the German artists is the main. There is a video work in which one girl wanders around on urban sidewalks, breaking the windows of cars parked on the side of the road, and called “Good-by Marilyn (1971)” by Japanese artist “Keiichi Tanamai”. I remember these two works were on display when I visited before the renovation.
On my second visit, there was a special exhibition by Gerhard Richter. Most of the works were the same as those exhibited at the special exhibition held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 2022. Stolen photographs of people being incinerated at Auschwitz were on display, but unlike the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, it was possible to take photographs.
There is a cafe near the shop on the first basement floor. The chandelier and wallpaper on the ceiling are works of art. This cafe existed before the renovation. It is a relaxing place. Please stop by.
Visited in 2012, 2024.
Basic Information
■ Name : New National Gallery
■ Address : Potsdamer Str. 50, 10785 Berlin, Germany
■ Homepage : https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/neue-nationalgalerie/home/
■ How to access :
About 10 minutes walk from Potsdamer Platz station. Although it is in the center of Berlin, it is inconvenient. If you are traveling from Berlin Central Station, take a bus. It stops right next to the museum.
