In 2021, Karl H. Bröhan would have turned 100 years old. The round birthday gives the occasion for a large-scale anniversary exhibition: in a novel and unusual presentation covering the entire exhibition space of the Bröhan-Museum more of the collection than ever before is shown. Display cases with collection highlights as well as some rarely shown treasures alternate with period rooms of French Art Nouveau, the reform-minded designs of German Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the functionalist design of the 1920s. Paintings of the Berlin Secession, as well as unusual collection blocks – animal figurines, for instance – are also presented. Furthermore, selected acquisitions of recent years show the development of the collection. Paintings, graphic art, furniture, porcelain as well as metal and glass art will all be on display.

In addition, in June 2021 the Bröhan-Museum received an extensive donation from a private collection – a collector from Berlin-Schöneberg donated over 100 colorful glasses by the Munich designer Jean Beck (1862-1938) to the museum which had once inspired him to start collecting. The glasses are now presented for the first time. The phenomenon of “satellite collections” – collections directly inspired by the Bröhan-Museum – is also explored in the exhibition through the example of two other collections.

For the first time in the history of the Bröhan-Museum, there is also a contemporary art intervention with works from the collection: internationally renowned performance artist Nezaket Ekici will take a new look at the collection during the exhibition – engaging with the Bröhan-Museum’s porcelain collection, she realizes a performance installation at the museum.

A new collection guide is published by Deutscher Kunstverlag to accompany the exhibition.

Media partners: Wall GmbH, rbb Kultur, Dinamix, tip, Exberliner.

Curators: Dr. Anna Grosskopf, Dr. Tobias Hoffmann

Exhibition design: Katleen Arthen

Design of advertising motif: Gerwin Schmidt, Munich