Collection

The collection focuses on French and German modernist works, especially from the post-impressionist and expressionist periods, while the early 19th century is represented by important paintings from the Romantic and Classicist periods. In the 1950s and 1960s, substantial convolutions of high-calibre works of US Abstract Expressionism as well as European Informel were assembled. In addition, a diverse collection of video art was shaped by a video studio at the museum that was particularly active in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, the steadily growing collection picks up on current trends in international contemporary art.

The Department of Prints and Drawings offers a broad spectrum of art on paper: it includes prints in a wide variety of techniques as well as drawings, watercolours and artists' books. The focus is on works from the early 20th century, especially Expressionism, as well as international graphic art from the 1960s onwards. The collection is constantly being expanded through new acquisitions. Even though works on paper cannot be presented permanently for conservation reasons, works from the Department of Prints and Drawings are an integral part of the collection presentation New Worlds. In addition, selected holdings are presented in special exhibitions. In individual cases, works from the Department of Prints and Drawings are also available for exhibition projects in other museums.

The German Poster Museum is unique in Germany and has one of the largest one of the largest special collections in the world. In 1974, with the help of with the help of private initiatives and support from the as a municipal museum. Since 2008 it has been an independent department of the Museum Folkwang, supported until 2023 by its association, the Deutsches Plakat Forum e.V. Since 2010, the exhibitions of the German Poster Museum have been shown in the Museum Folkwang.

Please note that the exhibits of the German Poster Museum are not on permanent cannot be exhibited permanently for reasons of conservation and that the the German Poster Museum does not have its own premises. In you will find information on the temporary exhibitions of the exhibitions of the German Poster Museum. In addition, you will find posters can also be found in changing constellations in the collection presentation of the Museum Folkwang.

The collection of objects from various world cultures in the Museum Folkwang goes back to Karl Ernst Osthaus. The first acquisitions date back to 1898 and initially concentrated on Islamic art. With the idea of founding a museum of decorative arts, Osthaus' interest expanded around 1900 to include East Asia, antiquity and European decorative arts. At the Folkwang in Hagen, which opened in 1902, the collection was initially exhibited together with the fine arts for financial reasons, but the museum soon became characterised by a presentation that spanned genres and epochs. Around 1912/13, the collection was enriched by Africana, and around 1914/15 a group of oceanic cult objects was added. After the transfer of the holdings, the collection in Essen is enriched from 1922 until well into the 1970s. The collection is no longer expanded.

Around 95,000 works can be browsed in the Museum Folkwang's online collection - around 30,000 of which are illustrated. Searching for works or artists is just as possible here as approaching the museum's holdings via albums - delving into various collection focal points or themes.