The permanent collection with outstanding works of modern and contemporary art is the heart of the Museum Ludwig. The contemporary art forms the backbone and foundation of the museum, looking into the past and the future. In order to convey the wide range and diversity of subject matter of the contemporary art collection, the presentation on the basement floor will change about every two years.

The Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst continuously supports the Museum Ludwig in the new presentation of its contemporary collection.

Additional information on the permanent collection

The realisation of exhibitions is one of the core activities of the Museum Ludwig. One focus of our commitment is thus also the support of special exhibitions.

Since 2001 the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst has substantially supported the presentation of more than twenty exhibitions in the Museum Ludwig, including: ISAMU NOGUCHI (2022), Boaz Kaiz­man. Grü­nan­lage (2021), Andy Warhol Now (2020), Wade Guyton ZWEI DEKADEN MCMXCIX–MMXIX (2019), James Rosenquist. Painting as Immersion (2017/18), Art Into Life! Collector Wolfgang Hahn and the 60s (2017), Fernand Léger. Painting in Space (2016), HERE AND NOW at Museum Ludwig: Heimo Zobernig (2016), Ludwig goes Pop (2014), David Hockney (2012), Joel Shapiro (2011) and Edward Hopper (2004).

To the exhibitions of the Museum Ludwig

The annual awarding of the Wolfgang Hahn Prize is one of the highlights of our commitment to the Museum Ludwig. The prize is endowed with a maximum of 100,000 Euros financed from contributions and donations from our members and earmarked for the acquisition of a work by the honoured artist for the collection of the museum. The sponsors BAUWENS and Ebner Stolz and support the evening of the award ceremony and a publication on the acquisition.

Additional information on the Wolfgang Hahn Prize

With the goal of fostering the interest in and the engagement with art on various levels, the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst has published or helped to publish numerous exhibition catalogues and publications on current topics revolving around modern andcontemporary art, including the publications accompanying the Wolfgang Hahn Prize and the catalogue to the exhibition ‘Joan Mitchell. Retrospective. Her Life and Paintings’. The Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst has made a substantial contribution to the new Museum Ludwig's collection catalogue, which was published in 2018.

To the publications of the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst

To the publications of the Museum Ludwig

The so-called ‘Kunst:Dialoge’ provide a platform for an open exchange on topics of modern and contemporary art among peers. Art history students from the universities in Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf are trained as art mediators and answer art-related questions in the Museum Ludwig on selected dates. Art enthusiasts are given the opportunity to discover the collection of the Museum Ludwig together with the young experts.

The ‘Kunst:Dialoge’ were initiated in 2003 by a group of young students in cooperation with the Museum Ludwig and the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst and are supported by the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst.

More information on the ‘Kunst:Dialoge’

It is especially ‘out of the ordinary’ events and projects that make an institution like the Museum Ludwig a lively and innovative venue. Lectures, film screenings, readings and musical performances open new perspectives onto art. Time and again, the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst thus supports individual events and projects, such as former director Kasper König’s benefit auction ‘Artists for the Museum Ludwig’ in 2012.

With the public lecture series Art in Context the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst also invites a broad public to engage in selected topics revolving around art theory and practice (free admission).