Pinakothek der Moderne - Part 1

[Derek Cohen]

The Pinakothek der Moderne is one of the world's largest museums for modern and contemporary art, and situated in central Munich's Kunstareal.


https://i.postimg.cc/90qCNXZg/1a-Pinakothek-Der-Moderne.jpg


My wife and I have been fortunate to have spent the last 3+ weeks touring around Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Prague. We are back in Munich, and a few days ago visited the Pinakothek der Moderne. This is definitely one of my favourite places, and I'd like to share with you, over a few separate episodes, some of the highlights.


One of the factors that draws me so to woodwork is that it is living art .. art that is used, whether as furniture, tools or simply as something to display and admire. But it is not just wood that I attracts me so, but all things of design ... cars, glassware, paintings, pens, watches, jewellery, architecture, bottles ...... If I had another life it may have been spent in industrial design .. but if that had happened, perhaps I would have dreamed of being a psychologist .. :)

Just to be clear in case what follows does not strike you immediately to be about hand tool work, this thread is about design influences.


From the entrance ...


https://i.postimg.cc/Jh174LCt/1-Wall-at-entrance.jpg


Entering the main exhibition hall one is presented with a wall of iconic furniture, electrical appliances and other landmark items. I shall come back to some of these in due course, but the one that grabbed my attention was the Porsche 356 ...


https://i.postimg.cc/SKDSnvmd/2-Porsche-356.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/C12wNnBf/2a-Porsche-356.jpg


I know a fair amount about this car, having restored one (a 1957 356A) many years ago. They were hand made, the first in 1949. This one looks to be a pre-A, which would have been built in 1950. The woodworker in me jumps out and looks at the framework here . I am not sure whether this was actually used to form the steel skins (before they were formed by stamping), or whether it was a form for visualising the first designs for production. I suspect the latter.


We move into the first room and I see this Tatra. I have read about them but never seen one in the flesh.


https://i.postimg.cc/dDPwMM9s/3-Tatra-1.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/FRz93VR4/4-Tatra-2.jpg


This looks like a 1950 model. These were V-8 rear-engined cars designed and built in Czechoslovakia. In the flesh it is amazing.


Beyond this is a Porsche 911 (mid-70s?) ..


https://i.postimg.cc/KvBg1xw5/7-Porsche-911.jpg


... and one of the most under-rated, and beautiful car I can recall, a NSU Wankel (1979?) ...


https://i.postimg.cc/GmRTY61n/8-NSU-wankel.jpg


The NSU was so far ahead of its time - Wankle engine ... which was likely their undoing.


BMW motorbikes ...


https://i.postimg.cc/mZc9GQSJ/5-Bikes-1.jpg


... made of clay. Yes, these were the models for the prototypes ...


https://i.postimg.cc/pVgFVpGT/6-Bikes-2.jpg


Lastly, look up at the model on the wall (anyone recognise the car?) ...


https://i.postimg.cc/kgy6ywn6/9-Wall-1.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/9fF4gTMx/10-Wall-2.jpg


Get closer to the wall, and it is made up of miniature cars ...


https://i.postimg.cc/KYq16z3m/11-Wall-3.jpg


More next time.


Regards from Munich


Derek

[David Eisenhauer]

Thanks Derek. I am definitely a museum kind of guy when it comes to traveling and that one looks like a good one. I can imagine rolling around in the Tatra just because I could. So much stuff mankind has done out there that we don't even know about.

[Jim Koepke]

Neat stuff Derek, museums are one of my favorite places to visit.

jtk

[ken hatch]

Thanks Derek,

Nice trip in the wayback machine. I had a 1958 356 that I still kick myself for letting it go. Not much power but a fun car to drive.

ken

[mike stenson]

Not much power but a fun car to drive.


It's a lot more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slowly.


Derek, did you also get to the Alte Pinakothek?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Mike

We visited many many museums. By the time we finished Der Moderne (my passion), I think that we ran out of steam. So the answer is no. Next time :)

Regards from Munich (off to Singapore tomorrow - first leg on the way home)

Derek

[Jim Matthews]

12-15 hours in flight.

Yikes.