"Museum of Museums" at the Wallraf in Cologne
In the winter of 2024/2025, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud in Cologne, Germany invites the public to embark on a journey through the history of art exhibitions with the show "Museum of Museums". This special exhibition, running from October 11, 2024, to February 9, 2025, marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Ferdinand Franz Wallraf (1748-1824), whose visionary collection laid the foundation for Cologne's first museum. The exhibition promises to be a thought-provoking reflection on the evolution of museology and how the act of exhibiting and viewing art shapes our perception.
LEFT: Kunstkammer of the Neapolitan Apothecary Ferrante Imperato, Engraving from: Imperato's Dell'Historia naturale, Naples, 1599. Photo: Wikimedia; RIGHT: Karl Louis Preusser, In der Dresdner Galerie, 1881, oil on canvas. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Galerie Neue Meister. Photo: Elke Estel/Hans-Peter Klut
The exhibition begins with the Renaissance “Wunderkammer” (Cabinets of Wonders), spaces where nobles and scholars gathered exotic artifacts, natural curiosities, and precious works of art. The recreation of such a cabinet of curiosities will be the visitors' first encounter with the "Museum of Museums," immediately transporting them into a world of wonder and fascination. From there, the public is guided through a timeline that spans Baroque galleries and the earliest public spaces dedicated to art, such as the “Wallrafianum”, the first home of Wallraf's collection, and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum of the 1910s.
LEFT: Honoré Daumier, Artists Evaluating a Rival's Painting, Lithograph. Published in the series - Le Public du Salon in “Le Charivari”, Private Collection. Photo: Thomas Klinke; RIGHT: Michael Wesely, Abertura, Pinacoteca MASP (19.01 – 23.09 Uhr 10.12.2015). Photography, C-Print on UltraSecG paper, Lothar Schirmer Collection, Munich. © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024. Photo: Michael Wesely
One of the highlights of the exhibition is the reconstruction of the revolutionary work of director Alfred Hagelstange, who, in the early 20th century, astonished the art world with a progressive curatorial approach that included works by the French avant-garde. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience this historic curatorship up close through original works by masters such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh.
The exhibition also brings to life two of the most radical museological approaches of the 20th century: Daniel Spoerri's “Museo Sentimentale” and John Cage's “Museum-Circus”, both of which challenged and redefined the concept of displaying art.
LEFT: August Renoir, The Sisley Couple, around1868, oil on canvas, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln; RIGHT: Vincent van Gogh, The Drawbridge, 1888, oil on canvas, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln
Daniel Spoerri: Between Art and Life
Daniel Spoerri, born in Romania in 1930, is a Swiss artist of Jewish descent who emerged as a key figure in the “Nouveaux Réalistes” movement during the 1960s. Spoerri became known for his tableaux-pièges (trap paintings), works that captured remnants of meals or everyday objects, transforming the ephemeral into permanent art. In 1979, Spoerri created the “Museo Sentimentale” at the Kunstverein in Cologne, an installation that distanced itself from the formality of traditional museums, instead presenting objects imbued with emotional and personal significance. His work challenges the boundaries between art, memory, and everyday life, and will be explored in the "Museum of Museums" through a recreation of his groundbreaking piece.
LEFT: John Cage, Rolywholyover A Circus. Curated by Julie Lazar at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, 1993. Photo: Julie Lazar; RIGHT: John Cage, Rolywholyover A Circus. Curated by Julie Lazar at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, 1993. Photo: Julie Lazar
John Cage: Silence as Art
John Cage (1912-1992) was an American composer and artist whose revolutionary ideas about music and art influenced generations of artists. Best known for his avant-garde compositions and his exploration of silence in his iconic work 4'33"* (1952), Cage also applied his philosophies to visual art and curatorial practice. In 1993, Cage conceived the *Museum-Circus*, a performance-exhibition that transformed the traditional museum experience into a participatory journey, where sounds, objects, and the very presence of visitors became part of the artwork. In the "Museum of Museums", this approach will be revived with pieces on loan from 18 museums across Cologne, offering the public an immersive and unique experience.
LEFT: Carl Spitzweg, Yawning Monk/Yawning Hermit, around 1850, oil on canvas. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln; RIGHT: Coconut Goblet, around 1570. Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln
The Future of Museums: Contemporary Reflections
As the exhibition draws to a close, "Museum of Museums" invites contemporary artists and museology experts to reflect on the future of art exhibitions in a digital era, where the internet resembles a vast global cabinet of curiosities. With art instantly accessible online, does the act of visiting a museum still hold relevance? How can future curators continue to create impactful experiences in a hyper-connected world? These and other questions will be explored through the personal responses and works of the participating artists.
The exhibition is curated by Anne Buschhoff and Ricarda Hüpel, based on an original concept by Wulf Herzogenrath, former director of the Kunsthalle Bremen. It promises to be one of the most thought-provoking exhibitions of the year, bridging the past, present, and future of museological practice.
Andy Warhol, Portrait of Peter Ludwig, 1980, acrylic on canvas, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln
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