Cultures of Display: The Berlin Art Museums Seminar Leaders: Dr. Andrea Meyer, Prof. Dr. Aya Soika Times: 24 April – 23 May 2014 Email:
[email protected],
[email protected] Location: The Berlin Museums / Seminar Room Emergency Mobile Number: 0176 781 84232 (Aya Soika) Concentration requirements: Arts and Aesthetics
Course Description “Art” is not only the objects and events ranged under this name, but the contexts in which these objects and happenings are assembled and presented. A knowledge of the history, politics and challenges particular to the display and storing of art is essential to any understanding of the value and interpretation of the art object. This course introduces the only UNESCO heritage site in the world to be consituted by five geographically proximate art museums: the Old Museum, the New Museum, the Old National Gallery, the Bode Museum and the Pergamon Museum, on the “museum island” in Berlin. We will first consider the desires and goals that lay behind the building and definition of the nineteenth-century museum, from the reassertion of a “Prussian” identity following the Napoleonic Wars, to the grand ambitions of the German Empire. We will consider how the conceptualization of the twentieth-century museum reacted against these aims and aesthetics, and how the damage to the nineteenth-century landscape of Berlin in the First and Second World Wars affected the presentation of the city’s art heritage. Through a combination of the study of façades, interiors and the placement of individual works, we will consider issues of appropriation, provenance and restitution.
Requirements Attendance Attendance at all classes is essential. Absences can only be excused if a medical note is submitted to the registrar's office and a short notification via email, if possible sent before the beginning of class, is appreciated. It is recommended to take notes of works discussed in museums and class. Please note: Notebooks (and other electronic devices) may not be used in class. Please bring pencil (in museums!) and your notebook instead. Bard College Berlin, a Liberal Arts University gGmbH | Platanenstraße 24 | 13156 Berlin, Germany Tel +49 30 43733 0 | Fax +49 43733 100 |
[email protected] | www.berlin.bard.edu Hypovereinsbank Konto IBAN: DE51 7002 0270 0002 4858 18 BIC: HYVEDEMMXXX | HRB Charlottenburg 84001 Geschäftsführung: Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, Ph.D, Prof. Dr. Thomas Rommel
Punctuality Punctuality is essential. Please make sure you depart early in order to reach the museums and/or seminar room, and please lock in your coats and bags before the beginning of class. The itinerary can be checked on www.bvg.de, but make sure you are also equipped with a city map. For Museum Island the nearest train station is Hackescher Markt. Friedrichstrasse is another possibility. For the New National Gallery take the S- or U-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz and then walk for ca. 10 minutes; for Hamburger Bahnhof take the S-Train to Hauptbahnhof and walk along Invalidenstrasse. Reading & Other Tasks Reading assignments have to be done in advance of class. In addition to the general preparatory reading, there will be a variety of tasks, such as the discussion of relevant questions/themes before classes in a communal document and the preparation of questions for the meetings with curators and other scholars. Presentation Each student will deliver a joint team presentation (teams of two, one TU, one Bard in Berlin Student). Presentations should last no longer than fifteen to twenty minutes. Please make sure that you rehearse beforehand in order to avoid exceeding this timeframe. A 1-2 page document (ca. 750-1000 words) with structured presentation notes (and, where applicable, a power point presentation) should be submitted via email to both course leaders on the day before class by 3:00 pm. This document can complement or serve as hand-out during the presentation. Essays There will be one essay, due on 25th May (for the Bard in Berlin students), of ca. 2500 - 3000 words. Students are encouraged to discuss a clearly confined question – which they are free to choose in consultation with the course leaders - with reference to the themes covered in the course, possibly also in relation to the presentation. Drafts of the long essay may be submitted and discussed in the course of weeks 13 and 14. Please note that prior consultation with the Bard in Berlin Writing Centre may be recommended in order to reflect upon writing and structure. Late Submission Essays that are up to 24 hours late will be downgraded one full grade (from B+ to C+, for example). Essays that are more than 24 hours late will not be accepted.
Grade Breakdown Listed below is the percentage grade allotted to each essay, and to classroom participation and assignments. Seminar Grade = Attendance/Participation/Preparation of Art Works and Texts & Tasks Seminar Grade: 40% Presentation: 30% Essay: 30%
Schedule Week 1 Thursday, April 24, 17:00 – 20:00 17:00 – 18:00, Seminar Room Introduction/Course overview 18:00-20:00, On Site The State Museums Berlin: The Current Situation Visit to Altes Museum and Humboldt-Box Reading: •
Gaehtgens, Thomas W. (1996): “The Museum Island in Berlin”, in: The Formation of National Collections of Art and Archaeology, ed. by Gwendolyn Wright, Hanover/London, pp. 53-77
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Bose, Friedrich von (2013): The Making of Berlin’s Humboldt-Forum: Negotiating History and the Cultural Politics of Place, in: darkmatter. In the ruins of imperial culture. An international peer-reviewed journal, URL: http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2013/11/18/the-making-ofberlin%E2%80%99s-humboldt-forum-negotiating-history-and-the-cultural-politics-of-place/
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Wezel, Elsa van (2009): Denon’s Louvre and Schinkel’s Altes Museum: War Trophy Museum versus Monument to Piece, in: Napoleon’s Legacy: The Rise of the National Museums in Europe 1794-1830, ed. by Ellinoor Bergvelt, Debora J. Meijers, Lieske Tibbe, Elsa van Wezel, Berlin, pp. 157-172
Week 2 Wednesday, May 14, 16:30 – 18:00, Bode Museum Guest: Dr. Julien Chapuis, Curator of the Bode-Museum Sculpture Collection Reading: •
Bilsel, Can (2012): Antiquity on Display. Regimes of the Authentic in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, Oxford, chapters “The fin-de-siècle critique – Wilhelm Bode’s style rooms”, pp. 139158
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Paul, Barbara (1995): “Collecting Is the Noblest of All Passions!”: Wilhelm von Bode and the Relationship between Museums, Art Dealing, and Private Collecting, in: International Journal of Political Economy, 25:2, pp. 9-32
Thursday, May 15, 16:30 – 20:00, Neues Museum 16:30 – 18:00 The Display of Cultural Construction 18:30 – 20:00
History/Chipperfield’s
Re-
Nefertiti Reception History/Restitution Debates Reading: •
Adrian von Buttlar, Neues Museum, Architectural Guide, Berlin/Munich 2010 (excerpts)
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Jung, Mariana, 100 years of the Discovery of Nefertiti, in: In the light of Amarna. 100 years of the Nefertiti Discovery (2013), ed. by Friederike Seyfried, exh.cat., Petersberg, pp. 421-426
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Olaf Matthes, Ludwig Borchardt, James Simon and the Colourful Nefertiti Bust in the First Year After Her Discovery, in: ibid., pp. 427-437
Additional reading: •
Andrew McClellan, The Art Museum from Boullée to Bilbao, Berkeley/los Angeles/London 2008, chapter: Restitution and Repatriation, pp. 233-268
Friday, May 16, 15:30 – 18:00, Pergamonmuseum/Museum für Islamische Kunst The Altar in Imperial Germany Guest: Nikolaus Bernau, Art Historian and Writer Reading: •
Bernbeck, Reinhard (2000): The exhibition of architecture and the architecture of an exhibition. The changing face of the Pergamon Museum, in: Archaeological Dialogues, 7.2., pp. 98-145
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Gossman, Lionel (2006): Imperial Icon: The Pergamon Altar in Wilhelminian Germany, in: The Journal of Modern History, vol. 78, no 3, pp. 551-587
Week 3 Thursday, May 22, 10:00 – 18:00 10:00-13:30, Alte Nationalgalerie National Identity/The Exterior and Interior Architectural Design/French Impressionism Reception History 14:30-18:00, Seminar Room The Modern Part of the National Gallery in the Kronprinzenpalais Student Presentations
Reading: •
Forster-Hahn, Françoise (1996): “Shrine of Art or Signature of a New Nation?” The National Gallery(ies) in Berlin, 1848-1968”, in: The Formation of National Collections of Art and Archaeology, ed. by Gwendolyn Wright, Hanover/London, pp. pp. 78-99
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Pucks, Stefan (1999): The Archenemy invades Germany: French Impressionist Pictures in the Museum of German Empire, in: Impressionist Paintings Collected by European Museums, New York, pp. 55-64
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Schuster, Peter-Klaus (2004): From the Kronprinzenpalais to the Neue Nationalgalerie, in: Arcadia and Metropolis. Masterworks of German Expressionism from the Nationalgalerie Berlin, ed. by id., Munich/Berlin/London, pp. 12-18
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März, Roland (2004): The Expulsion of the Artistic Avant-Garde. The Nationalgalerie Berlin and “Degenerate Art”, in: ibid., pp. 62-69
Friday, May 23, 10:00 – 16:30 10:00 – 13:00 Neue Nationalgalerie / Exhibiting after 1968 (Visit of current exhibition) Gemäldegalerie - Kulturforum-Urban Space 14:00 – 16:30 On Curating. Hamburger Bahnhof Guest: Gabriele Knapstein (TBC) Reading: •
Jarzombek, Mark, Mies van der Rohe’s New National Gallery and the Problem of Context, in: Assemblage, No. 2 (Feb. 1987), pp. 32-43, URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171087
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Altshuler, Bruce (2007): Collecting the New: A Historical Introduction, in: Museums and Contemporary Art. Collecting the New, ed. by Altshuler, Princeton/Oxford, pp. 1-15
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Blume, Eugen (2004): Museum für Gegenwart, in: Friedrich Christian Flick Collection im Hamburger Bahnhof, ed. by Eugen Blume, Joachim Jäger, Gabriele Knapstein, Berlin/Cologne, pp. 513-517
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Schuster, Peter-Klaus (2004): The Museum as the Site of the German’s Dramatic Conflict with Art, in: Friedrich Christian Flick Collection im Hamburger Bahnhof, op. cit., Berlin/Cologne, pp. 507-512
List of Presentation Topics 1. The Neues Museum and its construction in the 19th century 2. David Chipperfield’s Reconstruction 3. Restitution Debates: The German / Russian Museum Dialogue and its origins 4. The reception of Nefertiti 5. Wilhelm von Bode’s acquisition activities 6. Wilhelm von Bode and his concept of the “Style Room” 7. The political significance of the Pergamon Altar in Wilhelmine Germany 8. The Staircase Frieze in the Nationalgalerie 9. Hugo von Tschudi and the Nationalgalerie 10. The “Museum der Lebenden” (museum of living artists) and Ludwig Justi 11. The “Entartete Kunst” (Degenerate Art) campaign and the National Gallery 1937 12. The Berlin Museums during National-Socialism and the Second World War 13. Mies van der Rohe and the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) 14. Hans Scharoun, the “Kulturforum” (Cultural Forum) and its legacy 15. Private Loans in Public Museums: Problems and Debates (Flick, Marx etc. )
