We headed north and then northwest from Munich on our way to Pilsen, Czech Republic.  On the way, we stopped in Neumarkt, home of the Lothar Fischer Museum.  Fischer was a part of Gruppe SPUR, but this place was mostly about him.  With a special guest show by Robert Schad.
Gagutt by Robert Schad, 2015
Wolts by Robert Schad, 2015

Lots of Fischer:

Wagenlenker by Lothar Fischer, 1962.
Enigma-Variationen fur Messberghor Hamburg by Lothar Fischer, 1996
Reitertorso by Lothar Fischer, 1993

There were also contributions from other SPUR members.

Kunsthandler by H.P. Zimmer, 1965
Marktweibl by Heimrad Prem, 1963
Musik by Helmut Sturm, 1957
We walked into the center to get something to eat and came across yet more Art.

Special Exhibition
Stehande als Dreiergruppe by Lothar Fischer, 1986-90, in front of City Hall.

Pilsen, Czech Republic, which was selected as a 2015 European Capital for Culture, has a long and interesting history.  From intersecting trading routes to producing the war machines for the Austro-Hungary Empire, Pilsen has reminders of a glorious past.  I have included a lot of pictures here because I was so captivated by the details of the city.

Butterfly by Lea Vivot
Secret Bench of Knowledge by Lea Vivot


To be honest, we were not blown away by any special efforts for being the Capital of Culture.  It didn't even look like they cleaned up that much, but then I didn't see it before.  There was a dusty, tired feel about the place.

We went to a couple of special shows.  One called Depot 2015 was in an old industrial complex.  Lots of cut up tanks and other stuff.


And there was a show in the city gallery that was sort of interesting, called Venus by Latislav Sutnar.  Born in Pilson, Sutnar's graphic pieces from the 1960s and 70s are on permanent display at MoMA.

 Venus by Latislav Sutnar,1965
Venus-Dancing Go Go by Latislav Sutnar, 1965
 Venus by Latislav Sutnar, 1967-1970


To be fair, there were a couple of other shows with Art we didn't want to have to pay to see.  Just a few more shots before leaving town.



Back in Germany, we were once again on the trail of Hundertwasser.  This time in Wittenberg (between Leipzig and Berlin).  There Hundertwasser worked his magic on a high school ("gymnasium" to them)


We made it to Magdeberg (NW) that night, and began our exploring the next day.  We were there, once again, for the Hundertwasser (multi-purpose building in center of town):


But to our surprise, we found this part of Magdeberg filled with sculptures as well as a museum.  We were too early for the museum, so here are a few pieces:

 Endzeit by Helmut Lander, 1983
Vertschaupet by Schang Hutter, 1980.
Raub der Sabinerinnen by Bernd Gobel, 1984
Mutter Erde by Fritz Cremer, 1951.


A final few shots.


Hannover is only a little more than an hour from Bremen, so you can see we had already done a circuit around Germany.  But the lure of more Nana sculptures by Niki de Saint-Phalle proved our undoing. 


The Sprengel is real Modern Art museum overlooking the Maschesee.  There were lots of German Expressionists, of course, especially Max Beckman, but also lots of everything else.  I will only show a few here, you've got to click to see more.

Horses and Eagle by Franz Marc, 1912
Study on Blue by Gabriel Münter, 1915
Street in Twilight by Lyonel Feininger, 1910
Female Nude by Edvard Munch, 1902
After a delightful lunch in the museum cafe, we took in a show of posters.  The kind I would usually ignore, but these were high-quality posters by Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec, Mucha, and more.

 Salon des Cent. Exposition internationale d'affiches by Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec. 1896
La Rue.  Affiches Charles Verneau by Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, 1896


Across the street, at the edge of the water, this sculpture by Joan Miró coexists with the food vendors.


We discovered, much to our dismay, that the Grotto in the Grosser Garten which Niki de Saint-Phalle transformed would be inaccessible due to a concert that was going on that night.  They were actually closing the park early, but not telling anyone.  But there was other Art around town.

Die Begegnung by Waldemar Otto, 1983
Due to outrageous traffic coming out of Hannover, we were running late for our next residence.  But when I saw the sign for Uelzen, I, again, could not resist.  Here Hundertwasser remade the train station.



Our base for the next week was in Prieschenorf, a couple of houses outside of Dassau.  From there we had access to stops in Rostock, Schwerin, Arenshoop, and Lubbeck.   We started in Rostock and soon found there was little else besides the Kunsthalle Rostock.  Once again, photos were not allowed, so I cannot share with you.  But in reality, there was little I would have wanted to shoot.  A couple of big but forgettable shows.  The best thing I saw, I took a chance and snapped.


There were a few sculptures outside.


We cruised around in search of Art and found a few pieces:

Jo Schreiender Hengst by Jo Jastram
Sinnende by Siegfried Krepp, 1979

CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

And then we were in Ahrenshoop on the Baltic Sea.  Artists have been going there since 1889 and it remains the major attraction.

 
Freidemann Hentschel

In addition to the multitude of galleries and open studios, there is Kunsthaus Ahrenshoop.  I snuck a couple of pictures as these aren't names you'll see in the big museums.

Akt in der Brandung by Harold Tronson Bengen, c 1908
Badende in Bucht auf Hiddensee by Max Kaus, 1923

 And a few more.


CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE.

Schwerin was to our southwest, in a lakes region.  The main attraction here is the Schloss:


We found the Staadliches Museum right across the street.  They had extensive Old Masters, but occasionally among the dark and gloomy oils, we would find a Picasso or a Feininger.  No pictures were allowed, so I will try to describe the scene.

First there was an exhibit of autographs belonging to photographer Eddie Novarro.  There were some beauties in the mix: Miro, Magritte, Chagal, Man Ray, Naguchi, Lichtenstein, and Louise Nevelson are some of the names we remembered.  Not just autographs, they signed their paintings, sculptures and other object d'art for this celebrity cameraman.

The permanent collection centered on Dutch painters of bygone eras.  But as we walked through the galleries of landscapes, portraits, and religious paintings, we were surprised to see a lovely painting by Franz von Stuck among them.  We also found oddly placed work by Picasso, Otto Moderson, and Lyonel Feininger.

There was a gallery dedicated to Marcel Duchamp and filled with his strangeness along with others who shared his predilection.

We walked into the old quarter for lunch and took pics along the way:

Looks like a Rickey to me.
Sphere-Trames by Francois Morellet, 1962-89
Detail of above.
 

Ottmar Heorl celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Reunification of Germany by touring a display of over 1,000 little plastic men around the country.   It is called Einheitsmännchen - Little Unity Man.


 Stopped in the little town of Rhena on the way home.



Lubeck looked like it might be interesting, situated on an island in the middle of a river (Trave).  Not so much.  Having been the leading city in the Hanseatic League, I expected more, I guess.  There was some brick Gothic, but not the type of old town we've come to expect.  We were also surprised that there were cars there, but no big deal.  Not that the city was devoid of Art.  Just not much.

Revolving Door by Waldemar Otto, 1983.

 Eve by Lothar Fischer, 2002-03
Drei Stehende by Jan Koblasa, 1980-81

At the Museum Behnhouse/Dragerhouse we found lots we didn't care about.  Old, decorative.  Two houses worth.  We did find a small collection of German Expressionists including a watercolor by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a nice Max Beckman, a Paula Moldersohn-Becker, an August Macke, three Lovis Corinths, and a room full of Edvard Munch.   Munch came to Lubeck to see Dr. Linde and spent quite a bit of time here.  As did Lyonel Feininger, who has a book of sketches done in Lubeck.

Before we wrap up Germany, I wanted to include a few shots of the views from our mobile home in Prieschendorf and our immediate environs:




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