Kunstmuseum Stuttgart

The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in the city centre of Stuttgart, Germany. Opened on 5 March 2005, it succeeded the municipal Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart and occupies a prominent position on the Kleiner Schloßplatz along the pedestrianised Königstraße. The institution has established itself as a significant cultural destination, attracting 330,000 visitors in its first year of operation, a figure that exceeded attendance at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. In 2022, the museum was named Museum of the Year 2021 by the German section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).

The museum's origins trace to the Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart, whose collection was founded upon a gift from Marchese Silvio della Valle di Casanova in 1924. The new Kunstmuseum was conceived to fill a long-standing urban gap at the Kleiner Schloßplatz, a site that had been occupied until 1963 by the ruins of the Kronprinzenpalais, damaged in an air raid in 1944. After the ruins were demolished, the area was redeveloped into a six-lane road with tunnels, and in 1968 the stair-like Kleiner Schloßplatz was constructed to ease pedestrian crossing of the Königstraße. This structure never functioned as intended and was widely regarded as superfluous. Following decades of debate about its removal, the decision to build the Kunstmuseum after 2000 finally resolved the site's problematic status. The building was designed by Berlin architects Hascher and Jehle, winners of the third international architectural competition for the project. Marion Ackermann served as the museum's first director until 2009, when she became director of the Kunstsammlung NRW in Düsseldorf; she was succeeded in 2010 by Ulrike Groos, formerly of the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.

The collection spans from the 19th century to the present day, rooted in the holdings of the former Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart. Under the post-war curator Eugen Keuerleber, the museum prioritised acquisitions of works by Adolf Hölzel and Otto Dix. From 1986, director Johann-Karl Schmidt expanded the acquisition policy toward internationally renowned artists including Joseph Kosuth, Dieter Krieg, Wolfgang Laib, Markus Lüpertz, Dieter Roth, and K.R.H. Sonderborg. The museum also holds significant permanent deposits, including the collection of Rudolf and Bertha Frank (1992) and the Konrad Knöpfel-Stiftung Fritz Winter (1994). Upon the museum's opening in 2005, the archives of painter Willi Baumeister were placed under its care. More recently, the museum acquired the Teufel collection of concrete art. The collection encompasses painting, sculpture, and installation across two centuries, with particular depth in German modernism and post-war art.

The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart holds the world's most important collection of works by Otto Dix, comprising approximately 250 pieces, with two dedicated exhibition rooms reserved for this holding. The centrepiece is the triptych Großstadt (Metropolis), painted by Dix in 1927-28, alongside other major works such as Prager Straße (Prague Street) and Portrait of the Dancer Anita Berber. The Dix collection owes much to the early efforts of Eugen Keuerleber. Beyond Dix, the museum possesses significant works by Willi Baumeister, Adolf Hölzel, Dieter Roth, and others. Since 2013, the museum has administered custody of Museum Haus Dix, the artist's former studio and residence in Hemmenhofen (Gaienhofen) on Lake Constance, which was reconceived by the Kunstmuseum in 2009 and reopened in 2013 after a restoration costing 1.5 million euros supported by the city of Stuttgart, the municipality of Gaienhofen, the district of Konstanz, and private sponsors.

The museum building is a cubic structure of 5,000 square metres of exhibition space designed by Berlin architects Hascher and Jehle. By day, the building presents as a glass cube; its 224 glass panels covering 2,800 square metres of facade act as a mirror reflecting the surrounding environment. At night, illuminated limestone walls become visible within, constructed from Dietfurter limestone, irregular crust plates with coloured mineral oxidations from the Altmühltal. The top floor features Auer limestone flooring, also known as Kelheimer limestone, from the same region. Additional exterior elements include metre-high words and texts in grey and red adhesive foil applied to the glass windows, which change with each exhibition. The building stands 26 metres in height and is constructed from glass and limestone.

The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is situated at the Kleiner Schloßplatz on the Königstraße in Stuttgart-Mitte, within the pedestrian zone of one of Germany's principal shopping streets. The museum is owned by the city of Stuttgart and operates as a public institution. Beyond its permanent collection displays, it presents three to four major temporary exhibitions annually alongside smaller shows. Since 2013, the museum has administered the biennial Kubus. Sparda-Kunstpreis, a jury prize of 20,000 euros awarded jointly with Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg to artists with strong connections to the region, with an additional 5,000-euro public prize; recipients have included Alexander Roob (2013), Peter Vogel (2015), Myriam Holme (2017), Armin Linke (2019), Ulla von Brandenburg (2022), and Thomas Müller (2024). The museum also hosts presentations of the Hans-Molfenter-Preis, awarded by the state capital every two to three years since 1983.