Kunsthalle Bremen masterpieces coming to Guggenheim Bilbao

Eva Gonzalès, ‘Awakening Girl,’ (1877-78), Kunsthalle Bremen – Der Kunstverein in Bremen. Purchased 1960, Inv. 827-1960/28

BILBAO, Spain – Guggenheim Museum Bilbao will present the exhibition “Masterpieces of the Kunsthalle Bremen, from Delacroix to Beckmann,” which opens Friday, Oct. 25, and runs through Feb. 16, 2020. Juxtaposing French and German art from the 19th to the first half of the 20th century, the exhibition will recount the outstanding story of the museum’s pioneering engagement with modern art.

The Kunstverein in Bremen, Germany, was founded in 1823 by a group of engaged citizens with the objective to improve society’s “sense of beauty.” In 1849, the Kunstverein opened its own museum, the Kunsthalle Bremen. The first academic director of the Kunsthalle Bremen, Gustav Pauli, boosted the collection’s profile with an acquisition policy based on a dynamic dialogue between French and German art, weaving a story of leaders and acolytes, competition and solidarity, admiration and rebellion, and ultimately its own identity.

The exhibition highlights how the Kunsthalle’s collection was influenced by contemporary discourses on modern art and its early reception in Germany. The complex interweaving of local stories, national expressions and international movements paints a vivid and unique picture of European art from the late 18th to the mid-20th century.