The core of the complex is the villa and studio of the artist Franz von Lenbach, built at the end of the 19th century. and in the 1920s converted into a city art gallery. Over time, new structures were added to them, which did not always adorn the museum. During the renovation, the 1972 building was removed, the villa was carefully restored, and a new 2-storey wing with exhibition halls appeared.
This wing received facades of TECU corrugated panels, made of copper and aluminum alloy and resembling gold. They blend well with the rusty-ocher façades of the villa, and they also express the idea of a “precious box” for the works of the Blue Rider group, the most important part of the museum's collection, exhibited inside. The facade of the building is decorated with the Lenbahhaus inscription, created by the artist Thomas Demand.
As usually happens with modern museums, the main thing during the reconstruction was not even the exhibition space, but the public space. The Lenbachhaus has a new atrium that opens onto a corner of the villa: large works of art can be exhibited there, and a specially designed work by Olafur Eliasson Wirbelwerk (2012) has been installed. The museum also has a shop, a cafe, a lecture hall, an educational center for children and adults.
The exhibition premises of the villa are complemented by halls in the new wing, comparable in scale to the living quarters: it was in such conditions that the works of the masters of the Blue Horseman - Wassily Kandinsky, Alexei Yavlensky, Gabriel Munter, were originally hung. All rooms are illuminated with eco-friendly LED lighting and indirect sunlight.
N. F.
