Art and nature through the changing seasons: New presentation showcases previously rarely exhibited treasures from the museum collections
The Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt invites visitors on a special journey of discovery with a new seasonal display case. In the museum's lower foyer, selected objects from the "Art Nouveau and Jugendstil" collections, as well as the natural history collection, will be presented. The exhibition changes with the rhythm of the seasons, thus offering ever-new insights into the museum's extensive holdings.
The new display case is located in a central area of the museum. In the lower foyer, at the transition to the various collection areas, the café, and the museum shop, numerous visitors pass through daily. The presentation is intended to invite them to pause for a moment and discover previously little-known objects.
Nature as inspiration for Art Nouveau
The new presentation focuses on the changing seasons. This theme is closely linked to Art Nouveau art, for whose artists nature was an important source of inspiration.
Plants, blossoms, animals, and natural forms influenced the designs, as did the observation of growth, change, and transience. The artists explored the cycle of becoming and passing away, striving to make both the beauty and the contradictions of nature visible in their work.
Japanese art also played an important role. In Japan, the depiction of the seasons has a long artistic tradition that significantly influenced European art around the turn of the 20th century.
Four seasons, always new exhibits
The idea of the seasonal display case draws, among other things, on a tradition of Japanese museums, in which exhibitions and object arrangements are regularly adapted to the course of the year.
The presentation at the Hessian State Museum will also change with the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Selected exhibits from the art history and natural history collections will be combined for this purpose.
This results in small thematic collections that reveal unusual connections between art and nature. With each change of season, new perspectives on the museum's holdings open up.
Hidden treasures from the depots
A particular aim of the new presentation is to show objects that are not normally on display in the permanent exhibitions.
The publicly accessible collections represent only a portion of what the museum actually owns. Numerous other exhibits are stored in the depots and are only occasionally used for special exhibitions or other presentations.
For the new head of collections, Dr. Sophie Borges, the seasonal display case therefore also offers an opportunity to get to know the extensive holdings of the house from a new perspective.
"What's particularly fascinating is the view into the storage facilities. Because the permanent exhibitions only ever show a small selection of what a museum actually preserves," explains Borges.
It housed numerous extraordinary, beautiful, and surprising objects that were rarely displayed publicly. "With the seasonal display case, I want to make some of these treasures visible."
A new look at familiar collections
With its regularly changing presentation, the Hessian State Museum also aims to appeal to people who already know the museum and have visited its permanent exhibitions several times.
The seasonal display case is intended to encourage visitors to take another look at the exhibited objects on each museum visit and to discover new connections between natural history and Art Nouveau.
In this way, the lower foyer is transformed from a passageway into a small exhibition space that changes throughout the year.
(DARMSTADT – RED/HLMD)
