The museum emerged in 1976 as an independent institution from theWallraf-Richartz Museum. That year the chocolate magnate Peter Ludwig agreed to endow 350 modern artworks—then valued at $45 million[2]—and in return the City of Cologne committed itself to build a dedicated "Museum Ludwig" for works made after 1900. The recent building was designed by architectsPeter Busmann [de] andGodfrid Haberer [de] and opened in 1986 near theCologne Cathedral.[3] The new building was home to both the Wallraf Richartz Museum as well as Museum Ludwig. In 1994, it was decided to separate the two institutions and to place the building on Bischofsgartenstrasse at the sole disposal of Museum Ludwig. In 1999,Steve Keene painted in the museum.
The building is home to theKölner Philharmonie. TheHeinrich-Böll-Platz, a public square designed byDani Karavan, is above the concert hall at the north-east of the building. During concerts people are not permitted to walk on the square, as it creates acoustic disturbances for the concert-goers below.[4]
In 2016 the museum joined forces with the Bell Art Center to organize an unofficial retrospective ofAnselm Kiefer, which opened at Beijing’sCentral Academy of Fine Arts. The last stop on the tour in China was to be the new Jupiter Museum of Art inShenzhen, but a delayed museum opening caused the works to be put into storage. At this point the museum lost track of the pieces and began to search for them.[5]
In January 2020 they located the pieces in a warehouse in Shenzhen and attempted to retrieve the piece. They were stopped by Chinese authorities. Diplomatic action has been undertaken by theGerman Government, the City ofKoblenz, and Kiefer himself, to secure the return of the pieces, which include the monumental workPasiphae.[6]
With around 900 works by Picasso, the museum today has the third largest collection of this artist worldwide, afterBarcelona andParis. Peter Ludwig and his wife Irene later put their collection of the Russian avant-garde on permanent loan to the museum, including 600 works from the period 1905 to 1935 by artists such asKasimir Malevich,Ljubov Popova,Natalia Goncharova,Mikhail Larionov, andAlexander Rodchenko. Today the museum houses the most comprehensive collection of early Russian avant-garde artworks outside Russia.[8][9]
Allen Jones :Figure Falling / Chute (1964),Perfect Match / Partenaire idéale (1966–1967).
Edward Kienholz :Night of Nights / Nuit des nuits (1961),The Portable War Memorial / Monuments aux morts portable (1968).
Jean Le Gac :Le Peintre aux scabieuses/ Der Maler mit Ackerwitwenblumen (1977).
Roy Lichtenstein :Takka-Takka (1962),Mad Scientist / Le savant fou (1963),M-Maybe / P-Peut-être (1965),Explosion n° 1 (1965), Study forPreparedness / Étude pourDisponibilité (1968)
László Moholy-Nagy :Grau-Schwarz-Blau / Gris-Noir-Bleu (1920),Auf weissen Grund / Sur fond blanc (1923).
Kenneth Noland :Provence (1960),Shadow Line / Ligne d'ombre (1967).
Claes Oldenburg :The Street / La rue (1960),Success Plant / Félicitations pour l'avancement (1961),White Shirt with Blue Tie / Chemise blanche et cravate bleue (1961),Green Legs with Shoes / Jambes vertes avec chaussures (1961)
Robert Rauschenberg :Odalisque (1955–1958),Allegory / Allégorie (1959–1960),Wall Street (1961),Black Market / Marché noir (1961),Axle / Axe (1964),Bible Bike (Borealis) (1991).
Gerhard Richter :Ema (Akt auf einer Treppe) / Ema (Nude on a Staircase) (1966),48 Porträts / 48 Portraits (1971/72),Betty (1977),11 Scheiben / Eleven Panes (2003).
James Rosenquist :Rainbow / Arc-en-ciel (1961),Untitled (Joan Crawford says...) / Sans titre (Joan Crawford dit...) (1964),Horse blinders / Œillères pour cheval (1968–1969),Starthief / Voleur d'étoiles (1980).
George Segal :Woman washing her Feet in a Sink / Femme se lavant les pieds dans un lavabo (1964–1965),The Restaurant Window I / La fenêtre du restaurant I (1967).
Frank Stella :Seven Steps (1959),Ctesiphon III (1968),Bonin Night Heron No. 1 (1976).
Wolf Vostell :Coca-Cola, Dé-coll/age (1961),Homage to Henry Ford and Jaqueline Kennedy (1967),Miss America (1968).
Andy Warhol :Two Dollars Bills (Front and Rear) / 80 billets de deux dollars (recto et verso) (1962),129 Die in Jet (Plane Crash) / 129 morts (catastrophe aérienne) (1962),Close Cover before Striking (Pepsi-Cola) / Refermer avant d'allumer (Pepsi Cola) (1962),Do it Yourself (Landscape) / Modèle pour peintres amateurs(paysage) (1962),Two Elvis / Double Elvis (1963),Red Race Riot / Émeute raciale rouge (1963),Boxes / Boîtes (1964),Flowers / Fleurs (1964).
Tom Wesselmann :Bathtub 3 / Baignoire 3 (1963),Landscape No.2 / Paysage n° 2 (1964),Great American Nude / Grand nu américain (1967).
Since 1994 the Friends of the Museum Ludwig have honoured each year an international artist with the ‘Wolfgang Hahn Prize’, presented during the city's art fairArt Cologne. Both the annual highlight of the Friends' activities and one of the cultural features of Cologne and the Rhineland, this purchase prize is dedicated to the memory of Wolfgang Hahn (1924–1987), chief conservator and painting restorer at Wallraf Richartz Museum / Museum Ludwig and one of Cologne's most far-sighted collectors. The budget for the prize amounts to a maximum of 100,000 euros per annum. The museum also acquires a work from each prizewinner.[10]
An international jury chooses from the nominations submitted by the members. The Wolfgang Hahn Prize has been awarded to the following artists:
In 1999 the museum returned the paintingZwei weibliche Halbakte (Two Female Nudes ) (1919) byOtto Mueller to the heirs of Dr.Ismar Littmann.[19] In February 2000 the museum returnedLa Grappe de Raisins (1920) byLouis Marcoussis (1883–1941) to the family ofEl Lissitzky and Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers.[19]
^Hickley, Catherine (2020-09-30)."A Museum Puts Its Fakes on Show".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved2021-03-30.COLOGNE, Germany — Museums don't usually advertise fakes in their collections. But the Museum Ludwig here is exposing them to public scrutiny in a taboo-breaking new exhibition. The paintings on show in "Russian Avant-Garde at the Museum Ludwig: Original and Fake" are all ostensibly by artists from that radical movement of the early 20th century. Yet displayed alongside bona fide works by renowned artists like Kazimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko and Natalia Goncharova are paintings whose previous attributions museum researchers now reject.
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