collection focal points

The Witten collection makes it clear: the positions that are summarized under the term Informel are diverse. What the various movements have in common is a turn to abstraction and the abandonment of geometric forms. Instead of what is depicted, the focus is on the material, the color, the canvas itself, and no longer remains as invisible as possible. The creative process is spontaneous - without any precise conception or planning beforehand. The Witten Informel collection includes works by Karl Fred Dahmen, Karl Otto Götz, Gerhard Hoehme, Fred Thieler and Emil Schumacher, among others.

Another focus of the collection includes Expressionism – paintings by Max Pechstein, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, August Macke, Gabriele Münter – and the Westphalian Expressionists, especially works by Christian Rohlfs represent highlights of the property.

In addition, the museum provides insights into the development of abstraction in modernism, supplemented by exemplary works by Josef Albers and the Düsseldorf group ZERO. Surreal tendencies of the post-war period and figurative painting of critical realism in the 1960s and 70s can also be found in the collection.

Temporary exhibitions and good neighborliness 

The temporary exhibitions relate German and international contemporary art to the collection. In recent years, more contemporary positions have been presented – for example in the series "Possibilities of Painting" – but photography, video and installation art are also brought into focus.

Today, the Märkisches Museum is managed by the city and is part of the Witten Cultural Forum. In 2016, the building on Husemannstrasse was expanded again and now offers space for the museum and the city library. Museum visitors can drink a coffee in the reading café there or attend readings and other events after their visit to the museum.