1. Hans Holbein, Portrait de femme, Circa 1515, Huile sur bois, 38 x 28 cm, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, © Christian Kempf, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar
The Unterlinden Museum, the house of a masterpiece and unknown treasures
The Museum Unterlinden is one of the museum present in the city of Colmar in Alsace, and since it's foundation it had been managed by the Schongauer Company, an association under local law with financial and administrative autonomy. And while the museum is a mix of public and private entities, which is quite rare in France, it present more or less 700 years of arts, ranging from gothic to modern and contemporary art.
The history of the museum
The vast collection of the museum is arranged in three different places, the former Dominican convent of Unterlinden (Unter Linden means “under the lime trees”), the new extension of the building and the storage (which is not accessible to the public).
During centuries, and after the French Revolution of 1789, the buildings were gradually abandoned and they served as military barracks until the mid-19th century. And to transform it into a museum, a few citizens created the Schongauer Company, they bought the print cabinet of Louis Hugot in 1847, and they discovered and bought the Gallo-Roman mosaic of Bergheim in 1848, which they deposit in the church of Unterlinden.
Since then, most of the works of the Schongauer Company finds their way into the former Dominican convent, thus saving them from demolition and creating the institution. Since the beginning, and still nowadays, the focus of the collection is the works produced around the Rhine and the region.
2. Cranach Lucas l'Ancien, La Mélancolie, 1532, Huile sur bois, 93,7 x 73,8 cm, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, © Christian Kempf, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar
Most of the works of these periods are placed in different place. The works around the cloister present the arts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from the 11th – 16th century, during these periods, most of the works are paintings, sculptures and decorative arts (goldwork, tapestry, stained glass, etc.), which all come together in chronologically arranged rooms.
The works presented showcases the artistic production in the 15th century of artist living and producing works between Basel and Strasbourg, between Switzerland, Germany and France. At the time, those regions we're politically dependent on the Holy Roman Empire, but spiritually on the dioceses of Basel in the South and Strasbourg in the North, which offer them a variety of commissions (churches, convents, castles, residences, etc.) and a lot of freedom.
The next section is presented in the Chapel, and it present the Isenheim Altarpiece and art made between 1510 and 1520. For centuries, this altarpiece, which was, suppose to participate in the recovery of the person of the hospital, offer comfort and consolation through a very realistic and painful presentation of the Crucifixion and the scene of the Resurrection. Together, they created one of the masterpieces of paintings and polychrome sculpture, painted by Grünewald and sculpted by Nicolas de Haguenau between 1512 and 1516.
Thus, the seven panels of lime wood and the ten sculptures that compose it illustrate several episodes from the life of Christ and Saint Anthony the hermit, patron of the commandery.
The next space is the Gallery (basement), which is an underground connection, which connect the old part of the museum to the recent extension of the Swiss architect, Herzog & de Meuron. This space is mostly use to showcase the history of the museum and to present the works produced during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, which was mostly due to the Jean-Paul Person legacy (2008) or the Emmanuel Wardi donation (2008).
3. (Left) Bonnard Pierre, Paysage Normand, 1920, Huile sur toile, 121,5 x 79,5 cm, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, © Christian Kempf, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar
4. (Right) Delaunay Robert, Nature morte au perroquet, 1907, Huile sur toile, 85,5 x 69,5 cm, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, © Christian Kempf, Musée Unterlinden, Colmar
The new building, which was designed and constructed by the Swiss architect, Herzog & de Meuron present the art of the 20th and 21th century and an exhibition space. The space present one of the largest collection of modern art in Alsace with Dubuffet, Otto Dix, Baumeister, Hartung, Victor Brauner, Martin Engelmann, Léger and Picasso.
How to be "relevant"
After the completion of the extension and the renovation of the museum by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron between 2012 and 2015, the museum was now 7 900 M2 for a price of 43 917 000 euros. And while the building reopened on December 12, 2015, and was officially inaugurated by the French president, Francois Hollande on January 23, 2016. One question remain: can this new building, and in a way this new museum can be relevant to the tourists, the art lovers and the locals?
To do so, and for the first time the museum have a proper exhibition space, and it's the curators which will play with it. Surprisingly, the museum will rarely focus on old masters, but rather on modern and contemporary artists.
Thus, Frédérique Goerig-Hergott, the chief curator of the museum (until 2022) and the curator of modern and contemporary art presented and created exhibitions on Fabienne Verdier (2023), Yan Pei-Ming – Au nom du père (2021), Corpus Baselitz (2018), Otto Dix - Le Retable d’Issenheim (2016), etc. With those exhibitions, the museum is always working with artists from the region, or which have been inspired by the collection of the museum.
And NOW
Now the museum is slowly marking its 170th anniversary with an exhibition dedicated to the history of the museum seen thought numerous curators, directors, artists and personalities who shapeshifted the museum that we see today. The exhibition will run between the 14 October 2023 until the 4 March 2024.
Informations about the collection
Place: Musée Unterlinden
Ticket: Available at the front desk of the museum
Informations about the Musée Unterlinden
Musée Unterlinden
Place Unterlinden
68 000 Colmar
Phone: +33 03 89 20 15 50