10 Years of MKdW A Masterly Turn at the MKdW!

 

The exhibition “10 Years of MKdW – Contemporary” is already on view: four younger artists from Norway, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands show what identifies contemporary photography along the North Sea when it comes to the subjects of “sea & coast”.

From now until the end of July, the major parallel exhibition “10 Years of MKdW – Masterpieces” is being installed.

 

 

Until July 28, we offer a reduced admission fee of 2 Euros in celebration of the museum’s anniversary and in anticipation of the parallel exhibition – a cordial invitation to take your time to view the first exhibition until, starting on August 1, you will have the opportunity to concurrently discover 150 masterpieces from the Romantic period to modernism!

 

 

 

On Monday, July 15, the last day of our exhibition “200 Times Bathing Season: The Seaside Resort of Wyk auf Föhr from 1819 until 2019”, the exhibition spaces of the Museum Kunst der Westküste were still resonating with jazzy, soulful music and trippy Dada sounds marking the 200th anniversary of the seaside resort of Wyk. Yet on Tuesday, these sounds had already given way to the diligent drone of cordless screwdrivers. The many paintings, prints, photographs, posters and postcards were taken down and carefully packaged; the bathing costumes were removed from the dummies and folded, furniture was cautiously moved – and empty again were the walls of the Museum Kunst der Westküste!

 

Empty wall surfaces which were promptly repainted by our painters, this time in two different shades of blue: one brighter and the other darker, yet both perfectly tailored to the oil paintings and prints which, in the next two weeks, will be brought to the exhibition galleries from the cool spaces of the museum depot or arrive at the museum as loans from the four West Coast countries.

 

From August 1, 2019, about one hundred highlights from the collection of the MKdW and more than fifty loans from public and private collections in Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands will be on view in the exhibition “10 Years of MKdW – Masterpieces”. There is still much to do, though, before we can open the exhibition for museum visitors.

 

Art shipments come and go, delivering the – sometimes huge – climate-controlled crates which are supposed to make sure that the paintings are well-protected during their long journey against variations in temperature and vibrations. While still in their crates, the works are taken to their intended location in the museum: the spaces where they will each hang in the coming months already specified months earlier by the curators. Under the watchful eyes of couriers as well as of our registrar, Katrin Maibaum, and our conservator, Birgit Hölzer, the works are removed from their crates. They are checked to make sure that they survived the transport in perfect shape. In the process, not only the painting itself needs to be carefully examined but also the frame. “Homeward Bound”, a large-scale painting by Jozef Israëls, for instance, is mounted in a particularly richly decorated frame which required a great deal of attention during transport.

 

Now the anniversary draws closer and closer: ten years of Museum Kunst der Westküste! Not only the exhibition spaces are being prepared for this major event, but also the museum shop. The selection of books, art reproductions, postcards and design articles is being tailored especially to the upcoming anniversary exhibition. All those beautiful things: hand-made porcelain from Norway, coffee cups made (in Berlin) of coffee ground, coffee from “right behind the dike” on the way to Husum, surf fashion and jewellery hand made in Germany and much more is already available. Drop by one of these days, while it is still quieter and you can choose the best pieces!

 

For even while we have our hands full with the installation of the new exhibition, our doors are not closed. On the contrary: since July 16, we are showing the exhibition “10 Years MKdW – Contemporary” up in the gallery. In it, you can discover the photographic practises of four contemporary artists: Mette Tronvoll from Norway, Joakim Eskildsen from Denmark, the German artist Anja Jensen and Ellen Kooi from the Netherlands. These artists draw on the subjects of the “masterpieces”, thereby offering a foretaste of what awaits you starting August 1, 2019 in the parallel exhibition at the MKdW: 150 atmospheric impressions of the North Sea coast!

 

Would you like to honour us with a smaller or large gift marking this first round birthday of the Museum Kunst der Westküste? Simply call my colleague, Dr. Christiane Morsbach. She will be happy to inform you about what, in fact, is on our wish list. In this way, you can share ideas with her or debate with yourself what your individual surprise or patronage will be.

cm@mkdw.de / 04681 7474015.

 

MKdW story: Klara Scheuren, Research Assistant, MKdW

 

 

Until July 28, the admission fee is reduced to 2 Euros!

On July 29 –31 the museum is closed due to private events.

On August 1, we open at 10.00 a.m. and are, as usual, at your service! From then until January 12, you can visit two exhibitions for 8 Euros.

Jan Toorop
Deichweg bei Westkapelle
Jan Toorop
Deichweg bei Westkapelle

1910, Museum Kunst der Westküste, Foto: Helmut Kunde