A Strange and Sinister Business

The Pinakothek der Modern is the newest museum in Munich. The building's design has all the beautiful practicality that is expected. There are also touches of whimsey that allow the museum to take risks and grow. At the moment one of the big risks is the basement full of every day objects whose design elevates them to art. Currently this area is underfunded and almost all items on display have been donated second-hand.
This is my only real criticism. This museum still has plenty of time to stretch and grow, and there is already so much to love. I marched around until I had seen everything, and I'm glad I did. The biggest lesson I learned is that art is growing project. Over and over I met artist's at early and later moments in their lives and it was not just how they grown, but it was also what they had decided to say that inspired me to keep going. I may not be turning out prose worthy of the canon, but I'm learning and growing and deciding just what it is I need to say. I highly recommend a visit to the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Karl Schmidt Rottluff's self portrait grabbed me. He is determined to paint what he sees no matter what the fall out. I like that kind of courage and understand that kind of fear. The museum has a sizeable collection of Franz Marc. I do not love him as I ought, but I do love his use of color it is always strong, but in a harmonious way.
Humor is important for me in art. It's the fart that makes us all human. George Grosz tickled my funny bone with his perspective on married life. Men. What can you do with them? What can you do without them?This painting by Karl Hofer (Grosser Karneval) didn't interest me at first, but the longer I stayed in the room the more I was drawn to it. I still feel like a student of this painting, but perhaps you are a faster study.The collection has a good amount of Max Beckmann and I found studying the paintings chronologically interesting. At first he's like any other beginner, he's trying to find his voice and his subject, but then the dates are for dark and perilous times and his painting feels more out of control. It almost screams.
I could go on, but other things need doing. The collection is in many ways conservative, and I'll admit to a fondness for figures. Some of the experimental video exhibits were fun. There was a display of two pink strings strung from floor to ceiling entitiled Pink Flamingo--I loved it. There was some de Kooning that I liked though I liked it best when he kept the colors all distinct instead of adding a mixed blob. My favorite sculpture was made out of flourescent light tubes. It takes an ordinary object and turns it into a powerful symbol of mourning.