Art collections on Theatre Square
Saturday, 1 February, 4 pm
Public guided tour: Reform of Life
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Take a tour of the Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde exhibition and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, directed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Sunday, 2 February, 2.30 pm
Family tour: Erich Heckel: Watercolours and prints from the Jess Collection
Participation in all public guided tours is included in the museum admission.
Erich Heckel is a co-founder and director of the Brücke artists' group and is closely associated with Saxony and Chemnitz. Jürgen Brinkmann's outstanding donation to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz significantly expands the collection with 4 watercolours and 40 prints from the years 1905 to 1966 and thus ties in with the most recent acquisition of the sculpture Standing, from 1920.
With this exhibition, we would like to thank Jürgen Brinkmann for this wonderful addition to our collection and for his generous commitment as a collector. His donation was previously mainly owned by the Dresden publisher Wolfgang Jess, who is also honoured in the exhibition and its accompanying publication. The exquisite collection will be presented together with Heckel's masterpieces from the museum's own holdings, thus emphasising the qualitative growth of the Chemnitz Art Collections.
Wednesday, 5 February, 5.30 pm
Public guided tour: Reform of Life, Guided Tour (eng)
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Learn more about the most important works and in-depth content on a guided tour in English through the Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde exhibition. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, headed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Wednesday, 5 February, 6.30 pm
Lecture: Erich Heckel as a founding member of the "Brücke" and his commitment to the Brücke Museum
Venue: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Lecture by Christiane Remm, curator of the Karl and Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Foundation
Friday, 7 February, 1 pm
Workshop: Reform of Life
Free offer with free coming and going.
You are invited to get creative in our open workshop in the spirit of the workshop principle. Let yourself be inspired by works from the exhibition.
Saturday, 8 February, 4 p.m.
Family tour: Reform of Life
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Take a tour of the Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde exhibition together and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, headed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Wednesday, 12 February, 5.30 pm
Public guided tour: Reform of Life, Visite guidée (fr)
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Take a tour of the Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde exhibition with French translation and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, headed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Wednesday, 12 February, 6.30 pm
Lecture: Reform of Life: designer and architect - Henry van de Velde and spatial art
Venue: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Lecture by Dr Antje Neumann, Ceramics Museum Bürgel & Bauhaus Workshop Museum Dornburg
Wednesday, 19 February, 5.30 pm
Public guided tour: Reform of Life, with Arabic translation
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Take a tour of the exhibition Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde with Arabic translation and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, headed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Wednesday, 19 February, 6.30 pm
Galerie Oben and Clara Mosch: Artistic freedom in Karl-Marx-Stadt
Opening of the exhibition
Venue: Art Collections on Theatre Square
The exhibition tells the story of the alternative art scene in Karl-Marx-Stadt from 1973 to 1989. Monthly changing individual presentations of the protagonists show a multi-faceted picture of artistic autonomy in the GDR.
Contrary to the official cultural scene in the GDR, a hotspot of the alternative art scene developed in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) at the beginning of the 1970s. With the Galerie Oben and the Clara Mosch artists' group (1977-1982), which also ran a producers' gallery, there were two institutions in the city that attracted art enthusiasts from all over the country with their unconventional exhibition programme, actions and events. At the same time, these venues also served as platforms for artists who were not recognised as such by the state, and the exhibition uses numerous original documents, photos, posters, postcards and letters to tell the story of both galleries and bring them back to life.
Changing monthly presentations introduce artists who were present in the gallery between 1973 and 1990, allowing visitors to experience a broad spectrum of artistic trends from this period. Furthermore, the so-called "Wednesday events" at Galerie Oben will be revived in the form of artist talks, lectures, readings and film screenings, inviting visitors to enter into dialogue with the artists of the time.
Saturday, 22 February, 1 pm
Workshop: Reform of Life - Fully furnished - Workshop all about furniture
The maximum number of participants is 15, please register by e-mail info.kunstsammmlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de or by telephone on 0371 488 4424
Learn how to make your own (small) furniture or decorative items in our workshop Voll möbliert - Workshop rund ums Möbel. Be inspired by works from the exhibition.
Wednesday, 26 February, 5.30 pm
Public guided tour: Reform of Life, with Ukrainian translation
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Get to know the most important works and in-depth content on a joint tour with Ukrainian translation through the Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde exhibition. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, headed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Wednesday, 26 February, 18.30
Lecture: Reform of Life: Henry van de Velde. Art education and architecture between Belgium and Germany (eng)
With Ruben Mantels & Dr Hendrick Defoort, Ghent University Library
Further exhibitions:
(until 2 March)
Yvon Chabrowski: body options. We are airborne
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
The video sculptures by artist Yvon Chabrowski invite visitors to engage with physical representations. Chabrowski creates performative spaces for negotiation in which the patterns of movement that are inscribed in our bodies, the roles we assume in society and the relationships we can enter into with one another are questioned and set in motion. In her works, the artist reflects on body images.
Museum Gunzenhauser
Saturday, 1 February, 2.30 pm
Public guided tour: Best of I: Curator's Choice
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
We offer public guided tours of the current exhibition Best of I: Curator's Choice every Saturday and Sunday. Encounter the highlights of Alfred Gunzenhauser's collection on a joint tour. In addition to exciting expressionist works and an extensive presentation of Otto Dix, the exhibition invites you to discover unusual formats, materials and previously unseen treasures.
Saturday, 1 February, 4 pm
Curator's tour: Unwritten - On growing up
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
What do we think about youth? What dreams, wishes, illusions, but also turbulence and difficulties are associated with it and the subsequent coming of age?
In the exhibition Unwritten - On Growing Up, 20th century female artists from the Gunzenhauser Museum collection meet contemporary positions. In the diverse works by Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, Donna Volta Newmen, Theresa Rothe, Josefine Schulz, Johanna Seidel and Theresa Tuffner, this exciting, intense, but also challenging phase of life becomes clear as formative for our identity, our memories, but also our ideas for the future. They emphasise tenderness, warmth, but also vulnerability. The artworks capture a certain melancholy, but are also characterised by a great deal of humour and strength. They contain unifying, cross-generational experiences that find expression in sculptures, spatial installations, prints, paintings and drawings. Themes such as love, friendship, role models, empathy and self-empowerment crop up again and again, but also sadness and inner turmoil. There is a touch of youthful lightness, but also the question - when do you actually become an adult?
12 February, 5.30 pm
Public guided tour: Best Part of I: Curator's favourites with Ukrainian translation
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
With more than 3,000 works, the Gunzenhauser Collection is one of the most important private collections in Germany. Get to know the most important works and in-depth content on a joint tour of the exhibition with Ukrainian translation.
To mark the start of the European Capital of Culture Year 2025, Best of. Part I: Curator's favourites, the staff will determine the selection criteria: which artwork has travelled the furthest, which is the smallest, the largest, the youngest or the oldest? This reveals quirky objects and rare treasures from the collection. Art that has not yet been in the spotlight will be on display for the first time. Employees' favourite pictures will be included in the exhibition and visitors will be able to vote for their favourites. With the second part of the exhibition series, the view of the collection will then be reversed in the European Capital of Culture year when it is called Part II: Visitor's Choice.
Wednesday, 19 February, 11 a.m.
Film: Cinema matinee on Münter's 148th birthday - Münter & Kandinsky (Germany, 2024)
Location: Metropol cinema
Immerse yourself in the life and love story of Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky - the first feature film about the years the two artists spent together and the emergence of the Blauer Reiter group. We cordially invite you to the Wednesday matinee. Afterwards, you are also welcome to explore the Best of exhibition in the neighbouring Museum Gunzenhauser.
In cooperation with the Metropol cinema
Friday, 21 February, 4 pm
Public guided tour: Best of - Public guided tour (eng)
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
The public guided tour in English takes place in the exhibition Best Of. Encounter the highlights of Alfred Gunzenhauser's collection on a joint tour. In addition to exciting expressionist works and an extensive presentation of Otto Dix, the exhibition invites you to discover unusual formats, materials and previously unseen treasures.
Saturday, 22 February, 4 pm
Public guided tour: Unwritten - Growing up in English
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
What do we think about youth? What dreams, wishes, illusions, but also turbulence and difficulties are associated with it and the subsequent coming of age?
In the exhibition Unwritten - On Growing Up, 20th century female artists from the Gunzenhauser Museum collection meet contemporary positions. In the diverse works by Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, Donna Volta Newmen, Theresa Rothe, Josefine Schulz, Johanna Seidel and Theresa Tuffner, this exciting, intense, but also challenging phase of life becomes clear as formative for our identity, our memories, but also our ideas for the future. They emphasise tenderness, warmth, but also vulnerability. The artworks capture a certain melancholy, but are also characterised by a great deal of humour and strength. They contain unifying, cross-generational experiences that find expression in sculptures, spatial installations, prints, paintings and drawings. Themes such as love, friendship, role models,
empathy and self-empowerment appear again and again, but also sadness and inner turmoil. There is a touch of youthful lightness, but also the question - when do you actually become an adult?
Wednesday, 26 February, 6.30 pm
Public guided tour: Unwritten - Growing up
Participation in all public guided tours is included in the museum admission fee.
What do we think about youth? What dreams, wishes, illusions, but also turbulence and difficulties are associated with it and the subsequent coming of age?
In the exhibition Unwritten - On Growing Up, 20th century female artists from the Gunzenhauser Museum collection meet contemporary positions. In the diverse works by Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, Donna Volta Newmen, Theresa Rothe, Josefine Schulz, Johanna Seidel and Theresa Tuffner, this exciting, intense, but also challenging phase of life becomes clear as formative for our identity, our memories, but also our ideas for the future. They emphasise tenderness, warmth, but also vulnerability. The artworks capture a certain melancholy, but are also characterised by a great deal of humour and strength. They contain unifying, cross-generational experiences that find expression in sculptures, spatial installations, prints, paintings and drawings. Themes such as love, friendship, role models, empathy and self-empowerment crop up again and again, but also sadness and inner turmoil. There is a touch of youthful lightness, but also the question - when do you actually become an adult?
Thursday, 27 February, 10 am
Figurentheater Chemnitz as a guest at the Gunzenhauser: dot, dot, comma dash
Urban development with images, materials and objects
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser Chemnitz
Target group: for children and families, recommended from 4 years of age
Admission: 12 euros or group tickets (bookable via Chemnitz Theatre)
A new theatre production for young people from the age of four is created from artistic and playful research. Arne van Dorsten and Anna Lehotská use materials, bodies and dance as well as tripods, colours and shapes to approach very different gestures and feelings, pictorial spaces and plays of colour. Together with the audience, they explore how faces are read, when and how a face is created or what happens when individual elements
elements are taken away again without further ado or dance out of line. And along the way, a lively story emerges from shapes and arrangements!
In co-operation with the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz - Museum Gunzenhauser
Friday, 28 February, 10 a.m.
Chemnitz puppet theatre as a guest at the Gunzenhauser: Dot, dot, comma, dash
Urban development with images, materials and objects
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser Chemnitz
Target group: for children and families, recommended from 4 years of age
Admission: 12 euros or group tickets (bookable via Chemnitz Theatre)
A new theatre production for young people from the age of four is created from artistic and playful research. Arne van Dorsten and Anna Lehotská use materials, bodies and dance as well as tripods, colours and shapes to approach very different gestures and feelings, pictorial spaces and plays of colour. Together with the audience, they examine how faces are read, when and how a face is created or what happens when individual elements are removed again without further ado or dance out of line. And along the way, a lively story emerges from shapes and arrangements!
In co-operation with the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz - Museum Gunzenhauser
Castle Hill Museum
Ongoing exhibition:
(until 2 March)
The photographer Paul Wolff
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
Architectural photography is a focal point of Paul Wolff's work. In addition, Wolff documented the everyday life of the population in the cities and in the countryside. His estate of more than 6,000 glass plate negatives is now kept by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Saxony. A selection - including numerous views of Chemnitz - will be on display in the exhibition. The motifs, which were mainly taken in the period before and after the First World War, are hardly known to the public. They promise exciting and occasionally unusual insights into the historical cityscape.
Henry van de velde Museum
Friday, 7 February, 4 pm
Curator:inside tour: Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde in the middle of it all
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Take a tour of the Reform of Life & Henry van de Velde mittendrin exhibition and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, directed the La Cambre art academy in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.
Sunday, 16 February, 2.30 pm
Public guided tour: Reform of Life - guided tour for blind and visually impaired people
Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Get to know the most important works and in-depth content on a joint tour of the Henry van de Velde Museum for blind and visually impaired people.
When Henry van de Velde was born in 1863, the style mix of historicism prevailed in Europe. Artists and industry had hardly any points of contact. When van de Velde died almost a century later, the collaboration between art and industry was called "product design". In between, there were several generations of artists and designers who wanted to reform the form and function of everyday objects - and Henry van de Velde was among them. He was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, became an important representative of Art Nouveau, laid the foundations for the Werkbund and the Bauhaus, headed the La Cambre School of Art in Brussels and recognised the importance of the Ulm School of Design.