The opening of the Museum Reinhard Ernst is just around the corner: now that the works have been completed on the building, new tasks await behind the scenes. Amidst the preparations, one moment proved to be particularly touching. Here, you’ll find out why.
Curator, restorer, exhibition technician, and art handlers are working hand in hand in the exhibition rooms of the Reinhard Ernst Museum. They are hanging large-format paintings, installing sculptures, and attaching labels, while the collection manager is doing a final check on the technology in our colour lab before students can discover and express their artistic talents from the 25th June onwards. Other colleagues are preparing for the first days following the opening, including getting the museum shop ready to showcase its fantastic range of exclusive gifts.
All these fine adjustments are happening behind the sparkling white walls of our ‘sugar cube’ so that in a few weeks, we can offer you an unforgettable museum experience at Wilhelmstrasse 1 in Wiesbaden.
While each work of art was carefully placed and secured with effort and precision, a particularly touching moment occurred when the team hung the relief Corpo-senza-l’anima by Frank Stella.
The three-meter-high and four-meter-long sculpture made of metal and plastic is not easy to handle due to its impressive dimensions. With two lift trucks and utmost caution, the five-part object was positioned on a wall between the first and second floor by many helping hands, including those of the director! [More about this in the video]
During the installation, we thought of the nearly ninety-year-old artist, who recently passed away. When asked what exactly abstract art shows, Frank Stella once answered: ‘What you see is what you see.’ With this, he encouraged viewers to look closely, observe, and find their own words for what they see.
A recognition that Reinhard Ernst also shares: ‘In abstraction, no one dictates to me. That means everyone can see what they want to see. I think this is wonderful, and it only exists in abstract art.’
By presenting Frank Stella’s artistic legacy in a prominent place in the Museum Reinhard Ernst, we honour his memory. We look forward to welcoming you to our new museum soon, and finding out what reactions the works on art on display will have evoked in you.
Photos and videos: Dekubanowski and Gutierrez (mre)
