Your Royal Highness! Honoured Duke Franz of Bavaria, Your Eminence! Dear Archbishop Reinhard Cardinal Marx, honoured guests!
His Royal Highness, Duke Franz of Bavaria, was born on 14 July 1933. Six years later, the Second World War began, and it took another six years before it was finally over and the entire Nazi era, including the Holocaust, was reduced to rubble. As a member of the extended Wittelsbach family, Duke Franz was close to ancient art and music, philosophy and theology as a young prince.
However, it was clear to him from an early age that he should concern himself with the modern visual arts and new music of his time. Although he was not explicitly educated to do so, after all the attrition under the National Socialists and the Second World War, it was clear to him that the existential questions of his life and his society could only be considered and shaped through contemporary art.
After studying business administration in Munich in the early 1950s, he soon took a keen interest in the Munich art scene. His early eye for a first artist was formed after visiting an exhibition at the Günther Franke Gallery. He was interested in drawings by Afred Kubin (1877-1959). From here, he quickly found his way to Otto Wilhelm Gaus, who had a considerable number of Kubin's drawings in his art shop in Munich's Widenmayerstrasse.
During the National Socialist era, Kubin was defamed as a degenerate artist. 63 works were confiscated by the Nazi art agents. Nevertheless, he was not banned from exhibiting. Kubin always worked out his drawings in nervous strokes from dream visions, intuitions and hunches, and he was initially inspired by great artists such as Francisco de Goya, James Ensor, Odilon Redon, Edvard Munch and Max Klinger. This art, which emerged from the unconscious, fascinated the young Prince Franz greatly. He initially decided to acquire a few works, later several, and ended up creating his first collector's block with around 300 works.
The collectors and collecting
In the 1950s, the Prince increasingly created his 'second world'. He was initially drawn to Art Nouveau, but soon familiarised himself with the international guard of artists of the European post-war period, with Ida Kerkovius, Fritz Winter, Pierre Soulages, Ernst Wilhelm May, Serge Poliakoff, WOLS, Willi Baumeister and others. With the help of Munich gallery owners such as Franke, Stangl and Ketterer, he slowly developed a keen interest. Nevertheless, he was not always immediately sure of the quality of the art. Inwardly, he wavered in his judgement and needed time before he came to a firm decision on one painting or another.
He visited some exhibitions several times. Some sellers tried to wheedle him and urge him to buy. But Prince Franz kept his distance. He wanted to make his own judgement. To do so, he needed patience. Heidi Bürklin wrote about this almost 50 years ago in her marvellous 'Portrait of a Collector'. In the catalogue German Art since 1960: From the Prince Franz of Bavaria Collection, edited by Carla Schulz-Hoffmann and Klaus-Peter Schuster (1985).
Early on, the young art lover had a problem with the artist Willi Baumeister. This was clearly evident in the Franke Gallery. There were some marvellous 'Baumeisters' standing around in front of the hanging. Again, an employee talked to him. But the prince simply didn't like them. Then one evening the gallery owner himself called: Ketterer in Stuttgart was offering a particularly beautiful 'Baumeister' at auction the next morning, and it was worth buying. That very night, the prince hurried to Stuttgart in his VW. The night watchman let him in and he carefully examined the painting in the semi-darkness with a torch. He liked it. And so he bought his first 'Baumeister' - at the age of 28.
He struggled for two years to achieve this clarity. It had taken two years to make a firm decision with joy, years of wavering and doubt, years of wrestling with himself and with art. Then the doubt faded and slowly solidified into a belief in a concrete image. Prince Franz was enthusiastic about Safer avec des points (1954). The painting thus took on a lasting central significance for his collector.
In the early 1960s, Prince Franz's life with art became even more intense. Not yet thirty years old, he was already considered an avid collector of contemporary art. Constantly seeing and living among the pictures socialised him with other art lovers. They got to know each other, met in galleries and museums, looked at the pictures and talked about art. In this way, they came to trust each other and became friends.
The meeting with Walter Bareiss was perhaps Prince Franz's earliest acquaintance in this circle. Early on, they discovered that they shared the same attitude towards the appreciation of paintings and artists in the art of their time. Other art lovers joined them. They met and discussed the latest exhibitions in Munich or in the neighbourhood, especially in the art institutions. The 'old' was held in high regard in bourgeois circles in the Bavarian capital; the 'new', however, was considered highly controversial far into society. The group repeatedly focussed on the Bavarian State Painting Collection. New Art had little presence there. Purchases also seemed difficult to make at the time. But this group of art lovers continued to travel to other cities. They wanted to see New Art in Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hanover, Hamburg, Berlin; in Paris and London, in Basel, Zurich and Vienna. But their favourite destinations were the American East Coast. Last but not least, their many visits to New York taught them that the condition of the major museums there, especially the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), depended on the private commitment of many. This was a requirement for Munich.
The departure for New York
It was 1967 and once again two members of the Munich circle flew to New York, Walter Bareiss and Prinz Franz. As a German, the former had long been a member of the Acquisitions Committee for drawings at MoMA. Soon, however, he also involved the Prince in this institution. He arranged for him to join the International Council, the museum's international circle of friends. The two were united by their shared commitment to this large institution. This time, however, Walter Bareiss had to go straight from the airport to his textile factory. Prince Franz, however, was immediately drawn to the Manhattan art scene. Many meetings were arranged. Because the spirit of New Art was bubbling here.
Prince Francis was the first to visit the famous Marborough Gallery. He later had an appointment there with the curator of the MoMA, William Liberman. He strolled calmly through the foyer and immediately felt as if he had been slowed down. Motionless, he stood fixed in front of a large triptych by Francis Bacon. Crucifixion (1965) was its title; it had been created a good year earlier. It was like a thunderbolt, the prince later recalled.
Shortly afterwards, he continued the conversation: I remember his greatness, his forcefulness. It was then this swastika armband on the arm of the figure on the right, which naturally caught my eye as a German, but which Bacon later played down; because it was not an accusation against Germany, but this unsparing juxtaposition of agony and of looking away uninvolved, in other words all the things that actually preoccupied us in dealing with the German past, were contained in this picture.
The Gallery Association
When Prince Franz returned to Munich less than a week later, the circle of friends soon met up. They talked about all the new things they had seen and what needed to be done to change the miserable situation of the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie der Moderne. Finally, the idea of founding a private association came up to make it easier for the State Museums in Munich to make new acquisitions and initiate new exhibitions. Of course, this always involved private aid and financial support.
Shortly afterwards, the dedicated circle came together again. This time it was to be a long meeting in the Prince's house. Everyone was now inspired by the idea of founding a support association. Alongside Prince Franz were the restorer Klaus Gebhard, the publisher Egon Hanfstaengl, the art historian Siegfried Wichmann, the banker Alfred Winterstein and the art collector Christian Wolters. During the course of the evening, these six members of the circle of friends founded the Galerie-Verein, as it was known from then on. A few days later, other members who had been unable to attend the first meeting joined: Walter Bareiss, Christof Engelhorn and Karl-Heinz Dallinger. On the first evening, there were three goals for the association:
1. to promote the Neue Pinakothek, the Neue Staatsgalerie and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung.
2. the granting of subsidies for the acquisition of such works by the State Collections.
3. the promotion of exhibitions with publications of works of art in German and foreign museums.
The circle of friends also wanted to revitalise the art scene by travelling together, increasing the number of members and specifically by recommending new acquisitions. In the following years, the young prince was of course one of the most committed members of the association. He made most of the suggestions himself and knew how to push them through in the circle when it came to the latest art. Here he appeared with charm and tenacity, as Heidi Bürklin knew how to quote.
At the next meeting, everyone was asked to nominate a few works to be included in an exhibition at the State Collection. Bareiss and the Prince independently nominated Crucifixion (1965) by Francis Bacon. Others in the circle nominated works by Fernando Botero, Antony Caro, Alan Davie, Robert Rauschenberg, Graham Sutherland, Antoni Tàpies and others.
When the exhibition finally opened, Prince Franz and others immediately realised that the Bacon triptych would not be allowed to leave Munich. The then General Director of the Neue Staatsgalerie, Haldor Soehner, was also taken with the Bacon painting at first sight. He described the work as a powerful memorial that emitted a magical force. No sooner had the first discussions about financing this acquisition begun than it was paid for. A sensation! Christof Engelhorn had sponsored the purchase of the Crucifixion (1965) in one go.
The first tracks in Munich
The number of members of the gallery association gradually increased. Growth stagnated at around 100. Looking back on the purchase of Francis Bacon, however, Prince Franz was certain that this acquisition was the key event for the development of the collection in Munich in the 20th century.
The Galerie-Verein gained momentum through many privately sponsored new acquisitions. Prince Franz of Bavaria in particular repeatedly made decisive suggestions and knew how to push them through, especially when it came to controversial young art. This time, he was particularly interested in including Blinky Palermo's fabric paintings in the Bavarian State Painting Collections. And again, as so often, the proposal passed without a dissenting vote.
Ingvield Goetz later recalled his first encounter with the gallery association: 'It happened very quickly, I got to know the gentlemen. They often came to the openings, sometimes even beforehand. But I only remember Klaus Gebhard, Walter Bareiss, Prince Franz of Bavaria and Christof Engelhorn. A very small circle of very active and interested people. It really was a blessing to have such dedicated collectors.
Further ideas and impulses followed in quick succession. The first was the Ströher Collection in Darmstadt. The two gallery owners Heiner Friedrich and Franz Dahlem had repeatedly insisted on an exhibition of this sensational collection of American art: Pop Art. Pop and cetera. This exhibition was to be the most sensational thing ever to be seen in Munich.
When the American Dan Flavin saw the first hanging, he immediately complained before the opening that the pictures were hung far too 'well-behaved'. And then the curators and some members of the gallery association hung everything up. Those who could, grabbed them. The prince immediately brought in a tall ladder and, at a height of his own, got everything into the right position. Around 200 paintings, sculptures and many drawings - supplemented at the end by the so-called Beuys block, which the Rhineland artist set up in his own rooms. At the opening, the police forbade the serving of alcohol. Nevertheless, the mood must have been brilliant.
No sooner had this exhibition ended with great success after a good two months than another breakthrough began. It was about drawings and watercolours by Georg Baselitz. Prince Franz and the artist met and have remained close friends to this day. Full of enthusiasm, the prince made a strong bid to acquire many drawings. Once again, a magnificent exhibition was being planned. The new postulant, Dr Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, took responsibility for the hanging and for her first text about this artist. That was in 1986.
With the new works by Georg Baselitz, Prince Franz's passion for collecting increased to a high level of enthusiasm. Now he turned his attention to new prospects. This time it was mainly about acquiring prints. Fred Jahn, his lifelong art adviser and companion in building up his collection, encouraged him to acquire five hundred condition prints fresh from Baselitz's studio. And once again, the joy of acquiring new art soared. The fruit of a keen desire to collect! He was happy to take advice from gallery owners and other art lovers, but the selection was always his own affair. He always made the final decision alone. He never fell for what had just caught his fancy. Nevertheless, he always remained true to his own fields of collecting.
This became apparent early on in the USA, where his enthusiasm for collecting matured with artists such as Tuttle, Judd and Sandback. He had already acquired many works by Rivers and de Kooning at an early age, and he quickly followed in their footsteps with Chamberlin and Heizer.
At home in the Munich scene, he was also constantly buying works by Baselitz, Palermo, Richter, Penck and Immendorf. However, he was also increasingly interested in actions and works by Hermann Nitsch. Shortly before Nitsch's death on Easter Monday 2022, he acquired a large, completely newly conceived colour painting.
But he was also loyal to another group, his Munich artists. He regularly visited them in their studios, for example Oscar Coester, Ursula Rusche-Wolters, Priska von Martin, Helmut Pfeuffer, Rudi Troeger and, last but not least, Erwin Pfrang.
The latter had created a work that dealt with people living on the margins of society. For them, the artist sensed and developed an existentially broken image of humanity. Erwin Pfang empathised with these people himself through a moving, compassionate sensibility. This position was transformed into an artistic stance and caused the viewer great inner excitement.
It was precisely this emotion that penetrated deep into the consciousness of Prince Franz as a collector. It gripped him. At the same time, the artist withdrew all understanding from the collector. This art overwhelmed all three, artist, collector and viewer. It always remained open, deprived everyone of any compositional orientation and denied the eyes any stability. In this frenzy, this art consciously lost its unambiguousness in statement and meaning, but nevertheless remained burningly interesting.
The art historian Carla Schulz-Hoffmann summarises the artist's attitude in a text: "From a deliberately chosen outsider position, artistic formulations emerged that, in their non-conformity of content and form, were directed against all prevailing trends and thus indirectly contained a thoroughly subversive potential, because they were directed against all convention."
From the collection of Prince Franz of Bavaria
But let's take a look back to 1984, another year of great surprise. Erich Steingräber, General Director of the Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, wrote in the foreword to a sensational exhibition: German Art since 1960. From the Collection of Prince Franz of Bavaria.
"Prince Franz of Bavaria donated the largest and most important part of his collection of modern art to the Wittelsbach Equalisation Fund with the express purpose of making it available to the Bavarian state collections for their museums in Munich. This donation followed a special Wittelsbach tradition. Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria had organised the collection into two foundations, in
- the older works of art in the Wittelsbacher Landesstiftung,
- and the majority of the objects and private holdings collected in the 19th century, in the Wittelsbach Equalisation Fund.
Prince Franz of Bavaria is now following the nobility of his ancestors by making the many works he has collected and presented here in the exhibition accessible to the public."
Together with Prince Franz's collection, however, this exhibition will also show works from the same circle that were acquired by the Galerie-Verein for the Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, as well as some purchases by the Staatsgalerie itself. These include works by Baselitz, Beuys, Höckelmann, Immendorf, Kiefer, Knoebel, Lüpertz, Palermo, Penck, Polke, Rainer, Richter, Schönebeck and others.
Later - at the beginning of the 1990s - when the gallery association retrospectively organised two exhibitions after 25 years,
- with selected paintings and objects from the Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst and
- one with selected prints in the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung,
two further forewords show respect and gratitude for the joint work in the past and future:
"Over the years, the Galerie-Verein has coordinated its acquisitions with the respective directors of the Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung. Adding to the museum's holdings was one of its most important goals. ... Inspired by the prospect of an inspired and inspiring new museum building in the immediate vicinity of the two Pinakotheken, which will place the art of the twentieth century and the important holdings of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in the context of past epochs, the Galerie-Verein hopes for even greater collecting activity in the future." Signed: Katharina Sattler, Prince Franz, Walter Bareiss
The then Director General of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen wrote the following lines in the foreword to the second volume of the catalogue: "The exhibition and catalogue to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Galerie-Verein ... are both a résumé of what has been achieved and a perspective for the future. ... Important acquisitions, which today help to shape the face of the collection, would have remained an unfulfilled dream without the idealistic and material support of the Galerie-Verein, ... for example the triptych by Francis Bacon, which is now considered unique in the artist's oeuvre, as well as the monumental stone work The End of the 20th Century by Joseph Beuys, to name just the two most striking poles: The Galerie-Verein as a stimulus, mediator, but also as a critical corrective to a museum practice that is often perceived as too rigid. (And that) which, beyond the financial commitment, has always been a positive stimulus for the respective counterpart." signed: Hubertus F. von Sonnenburg
The Pinakothek of Modern Art
The major change hoped for in the first foreword was signalled towards the end of the second millennium by the design and construction of the Pinakothek der Moderne. On the way to the opening in 2002, however, there were further major changes in store for the Galerie-Verein itself: its dissolution and transfer to PIN.
Specifically, these activities extend to the following definitions:
- on acquisitions that are made available to the collections as permanent loans;
- on exhibition promotion and publications to visualise and communicate the collections and increase the museums' appeal;
- on educational projects to introduce people from different social classes and age groups to museums, especially children and young people;
- Programmes for our members to bring their enthusiasm for our collections to life and share their interest in 20th and 21st century art.
In general, it is also about using and creating synergies by networking people and institutions who want to make Munich and the Pinakothek der Moderne a vital centre for contemporary art;
- In order to keep the continuity and vitality of the collections alive, one of our tasks is to facilitate acquisitions, promote exhibitions, support educational projects for young and old and offer a lively membership programme;
- Finally, we want to endeavour to identify and strengthen synergies between the four collections housed under one roof at the Pinakothek der Moderne. And we want to be strong, strategic partners for our contacts in the museums, in business and politics.
What ultimately links these goals and activities?
They are united by the endeavour to constantly question the collections in new ways and to activate them for today's generations.
For fifty years ...
... Prince Franz, who later became Duke of Bavaria, sat among collectors, institutes and pictures. And after fifty years, looking back, he realised that he had always 'been there'. That was the important thing for him in Munich and New York, from the late 1960s to the early 1920s. It was the encounters with the artists, the institutes, the committed people; the friends.... And stories, experiences and memories developed everywhere. I was right in the middle of it all, I took part in everything and yet I also set things in motion here and there. That's why the International Circle of Friends of MoMA soon made him its chairman. He held this position for 16 years.
The prince had always gathered a number of interesting people around him from an early age. They didn't exactly have money at their disposal, but they were open-minded people who had supported and participated in many things. For Prince Franz, they were definitely 'contributors' and they had supported and carried out many things - just like on an open stage. They were not always in the front row, but they were present, sometimes 'anonymous', as if unknown. But in my world, every single one of them was very important to me.
With the new museum, the Pinakothek der Moderne, most of the tasks have changed a lot. This applied above all to the private commitment, especially of course to the new PIN. In contrast to the former Galerie-Verein, it had to be more broadly based. Exhibitions, for example, were no longer feasible without PIN. Private sponsorship was now needed everywhere. The Pinakothek der Moderne was too expensive for the authorities. The city and state had no more money. They could no longer manage the funding on their own, unless, it was said in a government declaration, the private sector could co-finance a 10% subsidy. After the decades of development in Munich, they were in fact soon able to reliably double this. A self-confident euphoria had long since prevailed.
Herzog Franz continued to be present in the institutions after the opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne. He took over the chairmanship of the PIN board of trustees for a longer period. He continued to be present and was 'in the thick of things' in his committees. He never ceased to take care of and mediate in all matters, especially for the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung. Of course, he also slowly began to slow down due to his age. And yet, formally and informally, he remained a decisive figure, was still at the forefront, was regarded as a figure you could count on and talk to. Of course, you had to 'succeed' in everything, especially in dialogue, in order to convince others. But this requires a basic trust and a period of confidence. When asked whether this was due to his modest manner, he replies directly: "No, I'm not modest, I want to achieve something, I want something to succeed. But I don't put myself out there.
HRH Duke Franz of Bavaria remained true to all his themes throughout his life and accompanied them - and they accompanied him as a matter of course for more than 50 years, throughout his life. But they always appeared anew. And 'his thing', which always took top priority, remained: the new, young art.
50 years of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria
His 'things' also included the Catholic Academy. It also belonged to 'his world' and was very important to him, even for 50 years. Not that there were many artistic topics there, but he always had to moderate in a leading position. Here, too, it was about freedom of thought and freedom of faith. He had to mediate between the cardinals and the heads of the academy, the opinion leaders, the tensions, the contradictions, the deadlocked discussions in theology and philosophy, tradition and new beginnings. Here, too, the 50 years were coming to an end.
What will happen next? The church is tragically stuck at the moment. Many cannot imagine that a future can arise. What comes next? What is important for a new church? How will it be able to preserve its own spiritual freedom? What can I wish it after all these years of involvement in a leading position?
Clear: The radiance of Christ! His light! His luminous power. An academy does not actually have any goals to proclaim. It wants to promote discussion in a civilised world, in a theology of liberation. (Leonardo Boff). What will become of the Synodal Way? What can I leave it?
A picture for alert eyes. It could not be any other than Pfrang's painting Entrance of Christ in Deutschdachau (1996). Franz von Bayern acquired it as a prince in the year it was painted. For 25 years it hung confrontationally in his study, captivating and challenging him. It moulded the prince's vision over decades. That is why it was now Duke Franz of Bavaria, the head of the House of Wittelsbach, who bequeathed this painting to the Academy when he retired from active involvement in the Catholic Academy as a member of the board.
This image foundation needs to go deeper. I lived with it for around 25 years and was always ready to engage with it. I found it difficult, but it made me different and more curious, because it had worried me. Instead of seeing, I now surmise. Instead of doubting - I am silent before every detail. Now I set in motion what I had hardened and hidden. Now I give it away.
