The Museum Gunzenhauser is the latest institution to join the ensemble making up the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. It houses the collection of the Munich gallery owner Dr. Alfred Gunzenhauser and holds more than 3,000 works by 270 artists, including works of classic modern art and from the second half of the 20th century. The owner is the Gunzenhauser Foundation. The collection is on view in the building of a former savings bank in the style of New Objectivity. It was built by Fred Otto between 1928 and 1930 and was refurbished in 2007 by Staab Architects for use as a museum.
The Museum Gunzenhauser houses one of the world’s largest work groups by Otto Dix, amounting to 380 objects. It also holds one of the largest collections of works by the Expressionist artist Alexej von Jawlensky. There are large groups of works, too, by Willi Baumeister, Gabriele Münter, Conrad Felixmüller, Serge Poliakoff, Uwe Lausen, and Johannes Grützke.
Major works in the collection are shown in changing combinations in permanent exhibitions. In addition, special exhibitions take place on different artists and themes that reference the collection. Furthermore, exhibitions of contemporary art are presented here. The concept behind these activities is that the museum should be a place not only for housing and conserving art but also for communicating and engendering new ideas.
