Kirchner Museum Davos

Kirchner Museum Davos
Name	Kirchner Museum Davos
Location	Davos, Graubünden, Switzerland
Established	1992
Type	Art museum
Director	Hans-Peter Wipf

Kirchner Museum Davos is a museum in Davos, Graubünden, dedicated to the work and legacy of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The museum preserves a comprehensive collection of paintings, drawings, prints, and archival materials related to Kirchner's life, career, and interactions with artistic movements, patrons, and cultural institutions across Europe. Established to commemorate Kirchner's time in the Alps, the museum connects local history with broader currents in modern art, exhibiting works alongside documentation of contemporaries and institutions that shaped early 20th-century visual culture.

History

The museum's foundation followed initiatives involving municipal authorities in Davos, members of the Kirchner family, and arts organizations from Canton of Graubünden and national entities such as the Swiss Federal Office of Culture. Early supporters included collectors associated with Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Kunstmuseum Basel, and donors linked to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Gesellschaft. The project engaged curators who had collaborated with institutions including Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou, as well as exhibition planners from Kunsthalle Bern, Albertina, and Kunstmuseum Bonn. During planning, archives from Akademie der Künste and correspondence with figures connected to Die Brücke were consulted, while loans came from Neue Nationalgalerie, Stedelijk Museum, and private collections associated with collectors like Ernst Beyeler and Peggy Guggenheim. The museum opened in the early 1990s amid commemorations that involved cultural ministries from Switzerland, diplomatic representatives from Germany, and scholars affiliated with University of Zurich, University of Bern, and University of Basel.

Architecture and Facilities

The building was designed by architects in dialogue with conservation specialists from Swiss National Heritage, engineers with ties to ETH Zurich, and landscape planners from Davos Municipal Office. Its design echoes alpine modernism found in projects by architects such as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and regional contemporaries associated with Bauhaus. Facility components include climate-controlled galleries conforming to standards promoted by ICOM and technical equipment comparable to installations at Rijksmuseum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. The complex houses study rooms used by researchers from Getty Research Institute, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and curatorial teams from Museum Ludwig. Accessibility upgrades were implemented following guidelines by European Commission initiatives and Swiss cultural policy advisors linked to Heidi Zumsteg and regional planners from Graubünden Tourism.

Collections and Exhibits

The permanent collection centers on paintings, watercolors, prints, and drawings by Kirchner produced during his Davos period, with comparative holdings by contemporaries such as members of Die Brücke, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Fritz Bleyl, and Otto Mueller. The museum also holds portraits, landscapes, and sketchbooks that shed light on Kirchner's interactions with patrons like Paul Cassirer and dealers connected to Galerie Wolf. Exhibitions have included loans from institutions such as Kunstmuseum Basel, Hamburger Kunsthalle, K20 Düsseldorf, National Gallery, London, and private estates associated with artists like Max Beckmann and Oskar Schlemmer. Special exhibitions have juxtaposed Kirchner with figures including Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, Emil Nolde, August Macke, Marc Chagall, and Paul Klee to explore dialogues across movements represented in collections at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The museum's graphic collection features prints printed at workshops linked to Städtische Druckerei and portfolios related to publishers like Verlag E. A. Seemann.

Research and Conservation

Conservation labs collaborate with specialists from Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, researchers from University of Zurich conservation programs, and consultants who have worked on projects at Louvre Museum and Prado Museum. Scientific methods employed include pigment analysis akin to projects at National Gallery, London, dendrochronology used in studies associated with Rijksmuseum, and paper conservation techniques shared with British Library conservators. Scholarly research has been published in collaboration with academics from Free University of Berlin, Columbia University, Harvard University, and centers such as Paul Mellon Centre and Warburg Institute. The museum participates in provenance research initiatives coordinated with Commission for Looted Art in Europe and restitution dialogues involving archives at Deutsche Kinemathek and repositories like Bundesarchiv.

Education and Public Programs

Educational outreach includes programs for schools coordinated with Davos Municipality Education Department, workshops led by artists associated with Academy of Fine Arts, Munich and visiting lecturers from University of the Arts London. Public lectures have featured art historians from Courtauld Institute of Art, curators from Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and guest speakers linked to Neue Galerie New York. The museum hosts concerts and interdisciplinary events in partnership with organizations such as Tonhalle Zürich, theatrical collaborations with Schauspiel Zürich, and film series curated with input from Locarno Film Festival. Community initiatives involve partnerships with Pro Helvetia, cultural networks including European Cultural Foundation, and youth programs supported by Swiss Youth Hostels.

Visitor Information

The museum is located in Davos Platz and is accessible via transport links including services by Rhaetian Railway, regional buses coordinated by PostBus Switzerland, and connections from Zürich Hauptbahnhof. Opening hours follow seasonal schedules consistent with institutions like Museum der Kulturen, ticketing aligned with Swiss museum standards, and visitor services comparable to those at Kunsthaus Zürich. Facilities include a museum shop offering publications similar to catalogues from Thames & Hudson and a café modeled after museum cafés at Kunsthalle Basel. For group visits, bookings are coordinated with tour operators registered with Graubünden Ferien and cultural tour agencies servicing routes to alpine museums and sites such as St. Moritz and Arosa.

Category:Museums in Graubünden