Berlin Museum’s Plan to Replace Old Masters Raises Uproar

“Art museums have an important responsibility to keep a broad range of historical artwork available on view for the benefit of scholars, art students, and the public.”
Berlin Museum’s Plan to Replace Old Masters Raises Uproar
On the outside, the 14-year-old Gemäldegalerie in Berlin is not a pretty sight, but inside it is a perfectly planned, high-tech space for the old masters collection it houses. Courtesy of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
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<a><img class="size-large wp-image-1784461" title="Germaldergalerie outside" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Germaldergalerie-outside.jpg" alt="Germaldergalerie outside" width="590" height="393"/></a>
Germaldergalerie outside

BERLIN—A cultural foundation in Berlin has stirred up a storm with its plans to move the Gemäldegalerie’s entire collection of old masters paintings, one of Europe’s greatest, with half of it going into storage. A donated collection of 20th-century art will replace the 3,000 heritage works, a decision that is angering art historians and art lovers around the world. 

The emptied-out Gemäldegalerie, in the Kulturforum district of Berlin, is slated to host Heiner Pietzsch’s private collection of 20th-century art, which he donated to Berlin under the condition that it would always be on public view. 

Pietzsch’s collection, valued at $190 million, according to The Guardian, features “classic modern” works, including paintings by Mark Rothko, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, Max Ernst, and Salvador Dalí. 

Christian Schlierkamp
Christian Schlierkamp
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