Images & Texts

Contract as Director of the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung extended until 2031

Philipp Demandt will remain at the helm of the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung for a further six years. This decision was made unanimously by the Städel Museum’s administration at its last meeting. The decision to extend his contract reaffirms Demandt’s commitment to one of Europe’s most renowned art museums. Philipp Demandt has been director of the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung since 2016; until 2022, he also headed the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. He came to Frankfurt from the Nationalgalerie in Berlin in 2016.

The Städel Museum, financed by the Stiftung Städelsches Kunstinstitut, is the oldest civic museum foundation in Germany. The museum is significantly supported in its operations by companies, foundations, private sponsors, the City of Frankfurt and the State of Hesse. Since 2006, the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung has been managed as an operating company by the Städel Museum.

Wolfgang Kirsch, Chairman of the Administration of the Stiftung Städelsches Kunstinstitut, comments on the extension: “Philipp Demandt has been managing the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus with great success and widespread acclaim since 2016. With a clear signature and a resolute attitude, diverse programming and innovative educational offerings, he has firmly established his institutions among the top German and international museums. Special exhibitions and new acquisitions, as well as scholarship and research, set standards, as do communication, education and fundraising. The administration of the Städel Museum would like to thank Philipp Demandt and his team for their outstanding performance in recent years and looks forward to continuing to work with them.”

“I am excited and delighted to be able to continue our joint work at the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus in the coming years. We have achieved a great deal. And we have even more planned, as our institution has some decisive years ahead of it. My sincere thanks go to our loyal audience, as well as to all our partners and supporters from the worlds of business, politics and philanthropy. Without the outstanding commitment of the local community, whose dedication to the Städel Museum is unparalleled, the success story of our institution would not have been possible. I would therefore like to express my sincere gratitude to the Städelscher Museums-Verein, chaired by Sylvia von Metzler, whose members and support groups have accompanied us with generosity and reliability. My special thanks go to all my colleagues at the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus, whose magnificent work is the cornerstone of our institutions’ joint success—their trust makes me prouder than anything else to be able to carry out this role”, said Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum and the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung.

Read the full press release here as a PDF. 

PRESS RELEASE

MAJOR EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO CARL SCHUCH AND MODERN FRENCH PAINTING FROM 24 SEPTEMBER / TICKET PRE-SALES NOW OPEN

The Städel Museum is dedicating a major exhibition to Impressionist and Realist painting from 24 September 2025. The focus is on Carl Schuch (1846–1903), arguably the most famous “unknown” protagonist of late 19th-century painting. Although largely ignored by the public during his lifetime, Schuch’s work attracted considerable attention from critics, museums, and collectors after his death—only to be forgotten again. With “Carl Schuch and France“, the Städel Museum presents a brilliant rediscovery, bringing together Schuch’s fascinating paintings with important works of French art, including paintings by Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and Claude Monet. The exhibition focuses on Schuch’s years in Paris. A restless cosmopolitan, he settled in the metropolis in 1882 and experienced the most productive phase of his artistic career there.

Here is the full press release as a PDF.

PRESS RELEASE

Werner Tübke. Metamorphoses

2 JULY–28 SEPTEMBER 2025
Exhibition Hall of the Department of Prints and Drawings
Press Preview: Tuesday, 1 July 2025, 11.00 am

In 2023, the Städel Museum received an impressive and representative collection of works by Werner Tübke, one of the most important painters of the German Democratic Republic, from the collection of Barbara and Eduard Beaucamp. From 2 July to 28 September 2025, the Städel is now presenting this outstanding donation of forty-six drawings and watercolours by Tübke in an exhibition dedicated to his graphic work and metaphorical visual language. Tübke (1929–2004) ranks alongside Bernhard Heisig and Wolfgang Mattheuer as one of the leading representatives of the so-called First Leipzig School and created a body of work in painting and drawing that is autonomous and consistent, dense in both form and content. “Drawing is an elementary need”, the artist once said, “everything else comes afterwards.” Tübke’s watercolours and drawings in graphite, pen and chalk testify to his great creative freedom and independence. They are an essential part of his artistic oeuvre: he used them to collect ideas, explore formal considerations and develop a wide variety of themes.

In his multi-layered compositions, characterized by an imaginative, sometimes almost exuberant fantasy, Werner Tübke reflects on the complexity of the world, with all its existential questions, hardships, and conflicts. In doing so, he demonstrates a keen awareness of human vulnerability, placing the individual at the centre of his art. Angels, unicorns and magicians, harlequins, veiled and bound figures, and repeatedly tortured and masked characters populate his works. In his “world theatre”, time is suspended through the creative appropriation of older art history, and everything is permeated by memories. While his art is characterized by a realistic formal language, the pictorial statements often remain ambiguous. Tübke was less concerned with a concrete reproduction of reality than with “interpreting existence”.

Werner Tübke’s outstanding contribution to post-war German art was recognized and honoured early on by the West German art critic Eduard Beaucamp. He followed the work of the “great anachronistic” artist from the late 1960s onwards, first as an art critic for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, then as a friend and collector. The Städel Museum, Germany’s oldest private museum foundation, is supported by private patrons, companies and foundations, as well as the city of Frankfurt and the state of Hesse. Barbara and Eduard Beaucamp have been associated with the Städel for many years through their commitment. In 2010, the museum received Guercino’s Virgin and Child (1621–1622) from the Beaucamp Collection as a donation.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum, on the exhibition: “Werner Tübke is a solitary figure in post-war German art. His works challenge us to recognize the human in the abysmal, the timeless in the historical and the true in the alienated. It is thanks to Eduard Beaucamp’s decades of tireless commitment that we are able to show his drawings in such depth today. As an art critic, friend and collector, he recognized Tübke’s stature early on and communicated it passionately to the public. The generous donation by Barbara and Eduard Beaucamp represents far more than a significant addition to the Städel Museum’s collection; it sheds new light on Tübke’s work and cements its place in art-historical consciousness.”

“The seemingly realistic nature of Tübke’s work is deceptive, because his art is far from representational or unambiguous. There are always ‘tipping points’, ambiguities and multiple meanings. He was interested in fundamental human themes, which he approached directly through his paintings and drawings. He virtually circled them with each new work. Beaucamp aptly described this artistic approach as ‘thinking in images’. Consequently, Tübke rarely produced classical preliminary sketches for his paintings. Rather, painting, drawing and printmaking were all equal parts of an ongoing process of reflection. The end result is not one pictorial solution, but many—spanning various media and decades. Tübke’s art proves to be constantly changing and as metamorphic as his visual language”, adds Regina Freyberger, Head of Prints and Drawings after 1800 at the Städel Museum and curator of the exhibition.

Curator: Dr. Regina Freyberger (Head of Prints and Drawings after 1800, Städel Museum)
Sponsored by: Heinz and Gisela Friederichs Foundation
With additional support from: Fritz P. Mayer

The full press release can be found here.

PRESS RELEASE

UNCENSORED. ANNEGRET SOLTAU—A RETROSPECTIVE

8 MAY 2025–17 AUGUST 2025
Exhibition annex

The body is political—as the work of artist Annegret Soltau (b. 1946) impressively demonstrates. Her art has been causing a stir since the 1970s and remains as relevant as ever. Long considered an insider’s tip despite her art historical significance, Soltau’s work is now regarded as one of the most important positions in feminist photography and body art.
Over the course of more than five decades and in the face of much opposition, Soltau’s independent, radically feminist visual language has established her as an indispensable voice in contemporary art. The Städel Museum is dedicating the first retrospective to her, developed in collaboration with the artist. With more than eighty works, the exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into her multifaceted oeuvre, which ranges from drawings to extended photography, video and installation. Among them are groundbreaking works from Soltau’s studio, some of which are being exhibited for the first time. Important loans from renowned institutions such as the Sammlung Verbund in Vienna, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, the Lenbachhaus in Munich and the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe complete the exhibition.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, the Cultural Foundation of Hesse, the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung and the Städelscher Museums-Verein e. V. Additional support is provided by Yoram Roth and the Georg und Franziska Speyer’sche Hochschulstiftung.

Central themes in Soltau’s work include feminism, body politics and the challenge of human and female identity. To this end, she has developed her own innovative techniques that transcend the boundaries of photography—photo-sewing, photo-restitching and photo-etching. In her self-portraits, Soltau questions female role models and sheds light on social norms by visualizing complex emotional worlds, inner conflicts and emotional states. Since the late 1970s, she has devoted herself to an artistic exploration of pregnancy and motherhood—themes that have been underrepresented in art for centuries and have only recently begun to receive increasing attention in both society and the art world. Her work is also a poignant expression of the ageing of the female body and questions of mortality. Soltau’s work has repeatedly been subject to public censorship; her depictions deviate from established aesthetic conventions and are perceived as provocative. The exhibition at the Städel Museum is an important corrective to this reception and a long overdue tribute to this great feminist and artist.

“Annegret Soltau’s radical formal language and fearless deconstruction of the human body open up new perspectives on identity, corporeality and artistic self-determination. Her art is highly expressive and ahead of its time. With this first retrospective, we honour more than five decades of Annegret Soltau’s artistic work. At the same time, it underscores the Städel Museum’s commitment to making pioneering women artists visible and to encouraging a broad public to engage with essential themes in contemporary art”, explains Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum.

Svenja Grosser, Head of Contemporary Art and curator of the exhibition, summarizes: “Annegret Soltau uses the body, her own self, as a venue for negotiating social structures. With her radical photo-sewing, she has created an entirely new artistic language and established the female body as a medium of self-empowerment. While she is internationally recognized, she has repeatedly faced drastic censorship in this country. We would like to correct this contradictory reception and present the artist Annegret Soltau for what she is: a pioneer of feminist art in Germany.”

The full press release can be found here.

PRESS RELEASE

FRANKFURT FOREVER!
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CARL FRIEDRICH MYLIUS

12 February TO 1 June 2025
Exhibition Hall of the Department of Prints and Drawings
Press preview: Tuesday, 11 February 2025, 11.00 am

His photographs are a journey through time. Carl Friedrich Mylius (1827–1916) shaped the image of Frankfurt like no other photographer. From the Zeil, the Eschenheimer Turm, the Goethe Monument and the Römer to the banks of the Main, he captured the city’s most famous sights. In doing so, he became a pioneer of architectural photography more than 150 years ago. From 12 February to 1 June 2025, the Städel Museum is devoting the first major solo exhibition to Carl Friedrich Mylius, featuring some eighty works. The occasion is the donation of 180 photographs from a private collection, which perfectly complement the Städel’s historical holdings of Carl Friedrich Mylius’s photographs and make them accessible to a broad public.

In the 19th century, Frankfurt was an important destination for travellers as a historic site of imperial coronations, as a trade fair city and because of its geographical location near the Middle Rhine. With the rise of tourism, Carl Friedrich Mylius’s photographs of sights that are still famous today became popular souvenirs. Many of his views show a city in transition. At the time, Frankfurt was undergoing not only a political reorganization as a result of Prussian annexation, but also rapid economic and social development. Industrialization and urbanization led to drastic structural changes—entire streets in the old town and inner city disappeared. As a chronicler of this period, Mylius documented the historical sites of his city as well as new buildings, industrial plants and the modern infrastructure. He was also drawn to the areas around Frankfurt—the Feldberg in the Taunus mountains, the towns of Kronberg, Königstein and Gelnhausen—and left behind the first surviving photographs of some of these places. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a 7.60 metre long view of the Main. It is the first photographic panorama in Germany.

“From the very beginning, the fascination with photography has remained unbroken. The photographs of Carl Friedrich Mylius, a native of Frankfurt, are a valuable visual legacy—artistically outstanding works and at the same time important documents of the city’s history. Mylius’s education and life are closely linked to the Städel Museum: he donated photographs to the Städel while he was still actively working. In 2023, this unique historical collection was expanded by a generous private donation. With this exhibition, we are able to present Carl Friedrich Mylius’s complete oeuvre comprehensively for the first time”, says Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum.

“Carl Friedrich Mylius was one of the first in the young Frankfurt photography scene of the late 1850s to specialize in architectural views. As a photographer, he was a neutral observer who captured his subjects objectively and impartially. At the same time, he used stylistic devices such as central perspective and balanced composition, demonstrating his keen sense of design. Even in these early days, photography was more than mere illustration—it was a means of capturing the city in an aesthetic dimension. This made Mylius an early pioneer of architectural photography”, explains Kristina Lemke, curator of the exhibition and Head of Photography, Städel Museum.

Curator: Dr Kristina Lemke (Head of Photography, Städel Museum) with support from Dr Brigitte Sahler
Sponsored by: Dr. Marschner Stiftung
With additional support from: Ina Petzschke-Lauermann
Cultural Partner: hr2-kultur

The detailed press information can be found here.

PRESS RELEASE

EXHIBITION PREVIEW 2025 AND OUTLOOK 2026

A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY TO 19TH-CENTURY FRANKFURT, THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE RETROSPECTIVE DEVOTED TO ANNEGRET SOLTAU, THE DRAUGHTSMAN WERNER TÜBKE, ASTA GRÖTING IN THE CONTEMPORARY ART COLLECTION, A MAJOR AUTUMN EXHIBITION ON CARL SCHUCH AND FRENCH MODERNISM, MAX BECKMANN ON PAPER AND, IN THE SPRING OF 2026, MONET ON THE NORMANDY COAST. THE DISCOVERY OF ÉTRETAT

Read the full press release here.

PRESS RELEASE

RINEKE DIJKSTRA
BEACH PORTRAITS

EXTENDED TO JULY 2025
Contemporary Art Collection

The ocean—a gaze: The artist Rineke Dijkstra (*1959) portrays young people looking directly into the camera on various beaches around the world—in Poland, Great Britain, Ukraine, Croatia and the United States. The carefully composed photographs are a search for the essence of human existence: sensitive encounters in which the artist also raises questions about authenticity and truthfulness in portrait photography. From 13 December 2024 to 27 July 2025, the Städel Museum will present 27 of Dijkstra’s works in a solo exhibition, including 23 images from her Beach Portraits series, which attracted international attention and established her as one of the most influential female photographers in contemporary art. Works from the Streets series and a self-portrait of the artist are also featured in the exhibition.
In the Beach Portraits series, created mainly in the 1990s, Dijkstra links the young people portrayed across national borders through a consistent composition. Set against the serene, basic background of the sea and reduced in context and clothing, the focus is entirely on the subjects, their characters and their youthful naturalness, which are manifested in the tiniest nuances of facial expression and posture—especially when, despite their best efforts, their emotional worlds are revealed. As a result, these powerful shots become timeless images that embody the human condition, full of uncertainty, curiosity and the search for identity. Through this unique visual language, which draws on art historical references ranging from the works of Sandro Botticelli to August Sander, among others, Dijkstra’s photographs express a contemporary historical view of the post-Cold War era.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum, notes: “Rineke Dijkstra's portraits could not be more contemporary, and at the same time they are already great works of art history: they have long been icons of photography. The medium of photography plays a central role in the Städel Museum’s collection: photographs were acquired for the teaching collection as early as the 1850s. Today, the collection comprises more than 5,000 works—from the beginnings of photography to the immediate present, including key works by pioneering female photographers. I am therefore all the more delighted that, with Rineke Dijkstra, we are now able to present such an important photographic artist at the Städel Museum.”

“In her work, Rineke Dijkstra succeeds in sensitively approaching the essence of the human being—a claim shared by photographic theory and art history. Rineke Dijkstra’s protagonists are people who are not only searching for their identity across cultural boundaries, but who are also united by a timeless question: ‘When and how do I understand myself and how do I want to be perceived by my environment?’ It is this empathetic, all-too-human moment that is expressed in Dijkstra’s works and makes them so timeless”, adds Maja Lisewski, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and curator of the exhibition.

Exhibition dates: 13 December 2024 to 18 May 2025
Curator: Maja Lisewski, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art Collection
Location: Städel Museum, Schaumainkai 63, 60596 Frankfurt am Main
Städel Invites Rineke Dijkstra: 13 December 2024, in partnership with BMW

The detailed press information can be found here.

PRESS RELEASE

FANTASY AND PASSION: DRAWING FROM CARRACCI TO BERNINI

10 OCTOBER 2024 – 12 JANUARY 2025
Städel Museum, Exhibition Hall of the Department of Prints and Drawings
Press Preview: Wednesday 9 October 2024, 11 am

The Städel Museum presents the great masters of Italian Baroque draughtsmanship. For the brothers Agostino and Annibale Carracci, Guercino, Stefano della Bella and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, drawing was a central component of their artistic work. In their drawings, they not only laid the foundations for their paintings, sculptures or prints, but also demonstrated the independence of the medium. Executed with pen and brush or black or red chalk, the sheets are sketches, studies or precisely rendered individual works. They impress with their sweeping lines, their dramatic chiaroscuro and their extraordinary expressiveness. From 10 October 2024 to 12 January 2025, the Städel Museum will be showing 90 of these remarkable Italian Baroque drawings from its own collection in an exhibition parallel to the Frankfurt Book Fair with Italy as this year’s Guest of Honour, inviting visitors to an intimate encounter with the artistic drawings of a bygone era.

The scholarly analysis of the drawings was made possible by the generous support of the Gabriele Busch-Hauck Foundation in Frankfurt. This multi-year research project has produced a wealth of new information on individual artists and their working methods, the subjects depicted and the techniques used, as well as on contemporary and later collectors.

The 17th century was a time of change in Italy. Baroque art emphasized movement and dynamism, contrasts and the play of light and shadow. These characteristics can be seen not only in the paintings and sculptures, but also in the drawings of the period. The artists studied individual motifs, figural groups, postures, draperies and sequences of movement. They drew from nature, developed complex pictorial narratives and created designs for large-format works. The emotional spectrum of their depictions ranges from delicate and introspective to ecstatic, expressive and sometimes cruel. The works on paper were often the basis for paintings, sculptures or prints and refer to the exchange between artists and patrons. They are therefore not only an expression of individual artistic creativity, but also a reflection of larger cultural contexts.

Read the full press release here

PRESS RELEASE

REMBRANDT’S AMSTERDAM
GOLDEN TIMES?

27 NOVEMBER 2024 TO 23 MARCH 2025
Exhibition Annex

Amsterdam – one city with many faces. In the 17th century, Amsterdam was the metropolis in Europe. The economy and trade were booming, the population rapidly increased, and the arts and sciences flourished. An influential civic society shaped the city’s fortunes and glorified itself in splendid group portraits made by the greatest Dutch painters of the age, foremost among them Rembrandt, alongside Jacob Backer, Ferdinand Bol, Govert Flinck, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy, and Jan Victors. From 27 November 2024 to 23 March 2025, the Städel Museum, in collaboration with the Amsterdam Museum, showcases portraits from the Rembrandt period in a major exhibition, with the magnificent group portraits of the Amsterdam Museum taking centre stage. These works are rarely lent out, and this is the first large-scale presentation of them in Germany. Around 100 paintings, sculptures and prints and cultural and historical artefacts from other prominent Dutch and international museums will be on view in Frankfurt, including masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Koninklijk Museum van Schone Kunsten in Antwerp and the Muzeum Narodowe in Warsaw. The exhibition will also feature remarkable works by Rembrandt and his contemporaries from the Städel Museum’s own collection.

“Rembrandt’s Amsterdam. Golden Times?” is sponsored by ING Germany, the Städelscher Museums-Verein e. V., the Dagmar-Westberg-Stiftung and the Fontana Stiftung, with additional support from the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung.

The exhibition challenges the traditional view of the 17th century as the Netherlands’ ‘Golden Age’. The economic and cultural prosperity of the Rembrandt era was bolstered by the aggressive trade policies of the United Netherlands, which relied on the establishment of colonies in Asia and South America as well as the enslavement and exploitation of people. As wars, poverty and religious and political persecution swept across Europe, migration to the Dutch Republic – particularly Amsterdam – steadily increased. A robust labour market and an unparalleled degree of religious tolerance attracted many in search for a better and freer life, a goal that some, but by no means all, achieved. It was primarily Amsterdam’s urban elite that commissioned lavish portraits of themselves: members of the civic guards and the craft and trade guilds, as well as the governors of the social institutions supported by civic society. While showcasing these prestigious paintings, the exhibition at the Städel Museum also illuminates the experiences of other social groups. Visitors will encounter images and narratives reflecting a pluralistic Amsterdam society, which tell of wealth and poverty, joy and hardship, power and powerlessness.

In the words of Städel Director Philipp Demandt: “With this exhibition, we are bringing Rembrandt’s Amsterdam to the Städel Museum. By taking a critical look at the realities of 17th-century Amsterdam, we engage with the ongoing discourse surrounding the re-evaluation of the Netherlands’ ‘Golden Age’. The masterpieces of Rembrandt and his renowned contemporaries depict a city in flux, undergoing profound economic and social transformations. No other museum in the world houses as many group portraits from this period as the Amsterdam Museum. At the Städel Museum, we are excited to unite these works with other international loans and our own exceptional collection of paintings and prints by Rembrandt, which our museum’s founder already collected with passion. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the lenders and sponsors who have generously supported our exhibition. This ambitious project would not have been possible without their commitment.”

“Amsterdam – Europe’s vibrant metropolis, a timeless favourite among travellers and a haven of art and culture. This holds true today just as it did during Rembrandt’s era. During the life of the renowned painter, the city’s economy and culture flourished on an unprecedented scale. This exhibition explores both the ‘Golden Age’ and its darker aspects. Following the 2021 Rembrandt exhibition at the Städel Museum that focused on the peerless artist himself, we now invite visitors to immerse themselves in the city where he lived and worked with many other pioneering artists. As ING Germany, we are delighted to support this exhibition, making Dutch art once again accessible to the Städel’s visitors”, says Nick Jue, Chairman of the Board, ING Germany.

As Sylvia von Metzler, Chairwoman of the Board of the Städelscher Museums-Verein e. V., comments about the exhibition: “The exhibition ‘Rembrandt’s Amsterdam’ is the highlight of our anniversary year. For 125 years, we have been supporting the Städel Museum in all its endeavours, and the Städel’s own works by Rembrandt featured in this exhibition reflect our extraordinary commitment. We are thrilled that this great Dutch artist is once again at the centre of a major exhibition, alongside many of his contemporaries. We will experience Rembrandt’s Amsterdam in a new and surprising light.”

Daniel Hoster, Chairman of the Board of the Dagmar-Westberg-Stiftung, points out that “Our founder, Dagmar Westberg, was a devoted patron and friend of the Städel Museum. She had a lifelong passion for the art of the Old Masters, which also informed the donations she made to the museum’s collection. Our support of the exhibition ‘Rembrandt’s Amsterdam’ reflects her desire to share her fascination with Old Master painting with a broad audience and reveal the stories behind the works of art. The Dagmar Westberg Foundation wishes the Städel Museum great success and many interested visitors.”

“The Dutch group portrait emerged primarily in Amsterdam. It is probably the most striking example of Dutch art from Rembrandt’s time. It can be attributed to the unique conditions of Amsterdam, a mercantile city with a distinctly bourgeois and Protestant character. During this time, the city transformed into a booming global trade hub, where the ruling elite celebrated their status and civic commitment through prestigious paintings created by leading artists. While the notion of the 17th century as a ‘Golden Age’ has long been uncritically accepted in the Netherlands—partly due to these artworks—this perspective has begun to erode in recent years. Our exhibition addresses this shift by also highlighting those individuals who were deemed ‘unworthy of portrayal’ at the time and thus left little mark on the tradition of portraiture. The quest to uncover their stories is both overdue and valuable, as it will enhance our understanding of Rembrandt’s Amsterdam,’ explains Jochen Sander, curator of the exhibition, Deputy Director and Head of the collections of Dutch, Flemish and German painting before 1800

Curator: Prof. Dr Jochen Sander (Deputy Director and Head of German, Dutch and Flemish Paintings before 1800, Städel Museum)
Supported by: ING Deutschland, Städelscher Museums-Verein e. V., Fontana Stiftung
With additional support from: Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung

The detailed press information can be found here.

PRESS RELEASE

PARTNERSHIP AGREED: STÄDEL AND FRESENIUS

The Städel Museum and Fresenius have entered into a partnership for the next two years, reaffirming their shared commitment to society. As Germany's oldest museum foundation, the Städel is supported by companies, foundations, private sponsors, the City of Frankfurt and the State of Hesse. The Städel Museum sees itself as a place of encounter, exchange and dialogue with the past, present and future. With a collection spanning over 700 years of art, major special exhibitions, an educational programme and digital offerings, it provides unique access to art across generations, epochs and styles – in the spirit of its founder Johann Friedrich Städel. For the healthcare company Fresenius, people’s health forms the focus of all activities. It has been committed to saving lives and improving people's quality of life and health for more than 100 years now. For Fresenius, the partnership with the Städel Museum is part of its social responsibility and a sign of its commitment to the Rhine-Main region. It was here that the company was founded, its headquarters are still located today and many of its employees live. With this partnership, Fresenius demonstrates its commitment to Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum, commented on the start of the partnership with Fresenius: "More than 200 years ago, our founder Johann Friedrich Städel had the visionary idea of donating his art collection to the public and thus founded the Städel Museum. To this day, his foresight and generosity remain a role model for many. Our partners and sponsors are also committed to this social cause by supporting their Städel. As our new corporate partner, Fresenius joins us in this special commitment. As a museum, we have a social mission: to impart knowledge and to enable people to experience art in many different ways. I am delighted that we have found a partner in Fresenius to support us in this endeavour.

Michael Sen, CEO of Fresenius, said of the partnership: “Fostering and funding the arts is an essential requirement for a diverse, open-minded and pluralistic society. Institutions like the Städel Museum ensure that everyone can access world-class works of art – a task that is also close to Fresenius’ heart. ‘Committed to Life’ – improving people’s lives – that is our claim. Both art and the Städel Museum make an important contribution to this. I am delighted to be working with such an outstanding cultural institution.” As a new corporate partner, Fresenius will support the work of the Städel Museum from August 2024. Together with the Städel Museum, Fresenius will also develop event formats that give employees unique access to the collection, which ranges from art from the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque period and Classical Modernism to the present day.

PARTNERSHIP AGREED: STÄDEL AND FRESENIUS

Location: Städel Museum, Schaumainkai 63, 60596 Frankfurt am Main
Information: staedelmuseum.de/en
Visitor services and guided tours: +49(0)69-605098-200, info@staedelmuseum.de
Opening hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun + holidays 10.00 am – 6.00 pm, Thu 10.00 am – 9.00 pm
Special opening hours: Up-to-date information on special opening hours at staedelmuseum.de/en

@staedelmuseum on social media: #staedel on Instagram / YouTube / TikTok / Facebook / LinkedIn / STÄDEL STORIES: For more stories and background information on the collection and the special exhibitions, read, watch and listen to stories.staedelmuseum.de (in German)