Collection

From Art Nouveau to ZERO, from Claude Monet to Gerhard Richter – the collection of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld now encompasses circa 18,000 works from the Late Middle Ages to the present day and continues to grow.

on View

The Kunstmuseen Krefeld work continuously with their rich and diverse collection. Presentation and research often go hand in hand. Many thematic as well as monographic exhibitions have specific references to the collection and are enriched from the museum's own holdings. In Collection in Motion on the 1st floor of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, part of the collection is on permanent display. Here, 15 themes can be experienced in 15 rooms. Individual rooms are regularly restaged so that the diversity of the collection becomes visible. In the Collection Satellites series, creative minds from various disciplines engage with the museum's collection or history and develope new works.
In addition to the exhibitions and the permanent presentation, there are permanent works and installations by Joseph Beuys, Elmgreen & Dragset, Yves Klein, Johan Thorn Prikker and others in both the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum and Haus Lange Haus Esters. In the garden of Haus Lange Haus Esters there are further sculptural works by Michael Craig-Martin, Ludger Gerdes, Berto Ladera, Richard Long, Claes Oldenburg, David Rabinowitch, Ulrich Rückriem, Thomas Schütte, Richard Serra and Andrea Zittel.

On the 1st floor of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Collection in Motion is currently showing works by: Nanni di Bartolo, Marion Baruch, Heinrich Campendonck, Will Cassel, Lovis Corinth, Siegfried Cremer, Thierry De Cordier, Dan Graham, Erich Heckel, Käthe Kollwitz, Helmut Macke, Gerhard Richter, Auguste Rodin, Andy Warhol, John Wesley and others. On the 2nd floor of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, from November 24, 2023 to April 28, 2024, the collection The German Museum of Art in Commerce and Industry will be the subject of the exhibition The Grand Seduction. Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture.

The Grand Seduction. Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture, Collection German Museum for Art in Trade and Industry, Installation view at KWM, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2023  
Photo: Dirk Rose
The Grand Seduction. Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Beginnings of Consumer Culture, Collection German Museum for Art in Trade and Industry, Installation view at KWM, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2023
Photo: Dirk Rose
Berta Kiesewetter, Dr. Ötker’s Backpulver, adhesive label, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Dirk Rose
Berta Kiesewetter, Dr. Ötker’s Backpulver, adhesive label, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Dirk Rose
Collection in Motion, August Rodin, Eva, 1899 (at the back), Gerhard Marcks, Schwimmerin II, 1938 (in front), Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Dirk Rose
Collection in Motion, August Rodin, Eva, 1899 (at the back), Gerhard Marcks, Schwimmerin II, 1938 (in front), Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Dirk Rose
Collection in Motion, Helmuth Macke The Blue Room, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Dirk Rose
Collection in Motion, Helmuth Macke The Blue Room, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Dirk Rose
Johann Thorn Prikker (1868-1932), „The Ages of Man“ (Youth), 1923, wall painting, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Volker Döhne
Johann Thorn Prikker (1868-1932), „The Ages of Man“ (Youth), 1923, wall painting, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Volker Döhne
Joseph Beuys, Rooms 1971 – 1984 with sculptures and objects 1952 – 1974, 2nd floor Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Volker Döhne
Joseph Beuys, Rooms 1971 – 1984 with sculptures and objects 1952 – 1974, 2nd floor Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Photo: Kunstmuseen Krefeld/Volker Döhne
Andrea Zittel, Planar Composition for Esters Garden House, 2022 (Installation view)  
HLHE Sculpture Garden, Collection Kunstmuseen Krefeld and permanent loan of Freunde der Kunstmuseen Krefeld e.V.  
© Andrea Zittel / Photo: Dirk Rose / Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Andrea Zittel, Planar Composition for Esters Garden House, 2022 (Installation view)
HLHE Sculpture Garden, Collection Kunstmuseen Krefeld and permanent loan of Freunde der Kunstmuseen Krefeld e.V.
© Andrea Zittel / Photo: Dirk Rose / Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Andrea Zittel, Planar Composition for Esters Garden House, 2022 (Installation view)  
HLHE Sculpture Garden, Collection Kunstmuseen Krefeld and permanent loan of Freunde der Kunstmuseen Krefeld e.V.  
© Andrea Zittel / Photo: Dirk Rose / Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Andrea Zittel, Planar Composition for Esters Garden House, 2022 (Installation view)
HLHE Sculpture Garden, Collection Kunstmuseen Krefeld and permanent loan of Freunde der Kunstmuseen Krefeld e.V.
© Andrea Zittel / Photo: Dirk Rose / Kunstmuseen Krefeld
Claes Oldenburg, Cross Section of a Toothbrush with Paste in a Cup on a Sink: Portrait of Coosje’s Thinking, 1981/1983, Haus Esters, Photo: Dirk Rose
Claes Oldenburg, Cross Section of a Toothbrush with Paste in a Cup on a Sink: Portrait of Coosje’s Thinking, 1981/1983, Haus Esters, Photo: Dirk Rose

Research

The collection of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld is continuously studied and questioned based on ever-new perspectives by the museum’s staff as well as external scholars.

Conservation

The objective of conservation work is the care of the precious items in the collection and their preservation of behalf of future generations.