West and Southwest Germany

Our first stop in this part of Germany was in Essen, where first we found Grugapark. Founded in 1927 as an outdoor laboratory, this botanical garden also has many sculptures:

Orion by Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff and Martin Matschinsky

Eos by Richard Schebe

Speerwerferin by Ernst Seger

Schwatzende Frauen by Herbert Lungwitz

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Adjoining the Garden is the Ronald McDonald House - done by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

We spent the following week in an interesting apartment in Niedersteinebach, fifty kilometers SE of Bonn. On the outskirts of a tiny village, the house we were in has horses and fields for neighbors. Called an "Artist Retreat," the apartment had a unique decor.

Our first port of call was Köln. Or Cologne en français.

Dropped Cone by Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen, 2001

Köln Sculpture Park

Racine du Naos by Mark di Suvero, 1996.

AA AA AA UR by Slavs and Tatars, 2015

Four Arcs of 235.5 degrees by Bernar Venet, 1999

untitled by Joel Shapiro, 1996-99

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Duisburg is just west of Essen and actually north of Brussels and marks the northernmost point of this leg of our journey. Unfortunately, when we went to the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum to begin, we found it closed. However, there was lots of sculpture on the grounds.

Zwei kongeniale Segmente-Rotation IV by George Rickey, 1980

Kneeling Figure - Eos by Toni Stadler, 1958

The Green Viewers-One of watching as another dies by Meret Oppenheim, 1933-1977

We saw that the Duisburg Kunst Museum and several others were featuring a show called China 8, and decided not to go, even though the Museum of Kunst Modern was also closed.

from China 8

The day was saved, however, by the great sculpture, Lifesaver, by Niki de Saint-Phalle at the junction of Konigstrasse and Dusseldorfstrasse. Followed by shots around Duisburg.

Goldene Leiter by Brunner-Ritz, 2008

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We stopped at the Max Ernst Museum in his birthplace of Bruhle, just outside Köln. Photos were not allowed and there really were not many I would have taken. The display was mostly books and papers with a few of his weaker paintings and bronzes.

by Max Ernst

Köln is the largest city in the region. Historic, once a leading city in the Hanseatic League, it was one of the most heavily bombed in WWII.

Köln Cathedral, begun in 1248 finished in 1880.

We began at the Museum Ludwig. Overlooking the Rhine, this is one of several museums founded by the Ludwig Foundation. This collection of Irene and Peter Ludwig covers the spectrum and history of Art and was distributed to a number of museums and institutions which bear their names, in Aachen, Bamberg, Basel, Budapest, Koblenz, Köln, Oberhausen, Beijing, Saarlouis, St. Petersburg, and Vienna.

A huge, airy building, we sometimes had difficulty finding our way around. But we managed.

The Giantess by Rene Magritte, 1929-31

The Bride by Francis Picabia, 1929

The Friends' Rendezvous by Max Ernst, 1922

The Station of Perpignan by Salvador Dali, 1965

An elderly security man showed us to some secluded rooms with some very nice Art by Bernard Schultze.

Das Dunkle Etwas by Bernard Schultze, 1989-91

Die Geschichte vom Goldfasan by Bernard Schultze, 1985

Bevor Die Dinge Thr Antlitz Bekamen by Bernard Schultze, 1994

And then we got into the German painters - Expressionists and others. There are a lot, but I have only included one per artist.

Cattle by Franz Marc, 1913

The Green Sofa by Max Pechstein, 1910

Female half-length Nude with Hat by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1911

Beach (Bathers) by Erich Heckel, 1912

Dreamers by Emil Nolde, 1916

Bust of Mrs. L by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, 1910

Self-Portrait in Front of Blue Background by Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1906

Large Cutter Class by Lyonel Feininger, 1929

(There will be more Feininger, so I should say that while he was born in New York City and died in NYC, he spent his life in Germany illustrating publications and participating in Die Brücke, Der Blaue Reiter, and many of the Berlin Secession exhibitions. His work is in museums all over Europe.)

Three Women in Profile by Max Beckmann, 1942.

Highway and Byways by Paul Klee, 1929

Woman in a Green Jacket by August Macke, 1913

Sharp-Quick Pink by Wassily Kandinsky, 1924

And more:

Breakfast Outing by Pablo Picasso, 1961

Rusalka (Mermaid) by Natalia Gontscharova, 1908.

Rayonistic Sausages and Mackerel by Michail Larionow, 1912

Head of a Woman by Alexj von Jawlensky, 1917

The Port by Maria Helena Viera da Silva, 1953

Eddingsville by Jasper Johns, 1965.

Allegory by Robert Rauschenberg, 1959-60

Big White Shirt with Blue Tie by Claes Oldenburg, 1961

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We saw a show of Art by Petrit Halilaj, from Kosovo, at the Kolnischer Kunstverei. Hallilaj discovered that the school of his youth was being demolished so he did a video, and got the desks from the school on which kids had carved various characters and creatures. He then reproduced these beings in bigger than life metal sculptures and filled the gallery. We also got a free tote bag.

And a few more shots from around town:

We then visited Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, and found a couple of Art museums. We started with Bundeskunsthalle where the only Art of interest was on the roof: Trouble in Paradise.

Bale Harvest by Michael Beutler, 2014

That day I oft remember, etc from Paradise Lost by Olaf Nicolai, 2015

Astronauts saw my work and started laughing by Petrit Halilaj, 2011

Derelict Buildings Crazy Golf by Ina Weber, 2010

Across the plaza was Kunstmuseum Bonn, which featured Modern Art:

Woman Embroidering on Balcony by August Macke, 1910.

Circular Forms (Moon No 2) by Robert Delaunay, 1913

Helene mit Blauem Turban by Alexj Jawlensky, 1911

Nadja by Emil Nolde, 1919

Gratenwald by Max Ernst, 1926

Die Kabarettistinnen by Max Beckmann, 1943

There was a special exhibit of Frank Auerbach:

Looking Towards Mornington Crescent Station by Frank Auerbach, 1972-74

The Origin of the Great Bear by Frank Auerbach, 1967-68

also Frank Auerbach

And another by Tanja Geiss:

Geisterbahn by Tanja Geiss, 2015.

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The name of the city of Koblenz comes from the Latin for confluence, which is appropriate since it is at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine Rivers. We began in the Old Town exploring the streets where we found statues of some of the colorful Koblenzians, such as Pfefferminzje (Peppermint). Her real name was Anne Marie Stein and she lived here in the 1920's when she sold peppermints for a living. She was fond of cigars (in left hand) and cats (at her feet).

Pfefferminzje - Anne Marie Stein

Erich Henn as the Tambour by Fritz Berlin

The Marketwoman and the Policeman

Inventor Fountain by Gernot Rumpf

We walked out to the Deutche Eck - German Corner - looking out over the two rivers. A very historic spot. There have been fortifications here since 1000 bc. Julius Caesar built a bridge from here to the other side of the Rhine.

The Moselle from The Eck

And then to the Ludwig Museum right there.

Thumb by Cesar (Baldaccini)

Inside was a regrettable display by Susan Swartz who clearly knew Jane Goodall. And so long Koblenz.

The next day we took on Frankfort, but on the way we stopped at Bad Soden, home of Wohnen in den Wiesen Bad Soden. An apartment building designed by Hundertwasser.

In town there was an interesting fountain with pose-able parts:

Kurgast fountain at Rueil-Malmaison-Platz by Bonifatius Stirnberg, 1980

Next stop, the North Frankfort neighborhood of Heddernheim where Hundertwasser designed the Kitakindergarten.

They've got some sculpture in downtown Frankfort:

Ein Haus fur Goethe by Eduardo Chillida

Hammering Man by Jonathan Borofsky

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FRANKFORT.

But when we got to the Modern art museums (there were three) we found that it was all contemporary art. And not particularly interesting. Oh well. So walked and took the pedestrian bridge over the Main River to the Stadel Museum, which had Art from all periods.