Museum Kunst Palast (Art Palace Museum), Dusseldorf

The Art Palace Museum (Museum Kunstpalast) stands as a distinguished art institution in Dusseldorf, with a history tracing back nearly 300 years. Originally established as the Dusseldorf Art Museum, it holds a profound heritage linked to the city’s Academy of Art, founded in 1710. The museum's foundations include notable contributions from regent Jan Wellem and Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, with a strong collection from affluent citizens of Dusseldorf, making it a significant cultural repository by the 19th century.

The original Art Palace was constructed in 1902 at Ehrenhof for a grand exhibition blending art with industrial and trade displays. The current Art Deco building, designed by Wilhelm Kreis in 1926 for the “GeSoLei” exhibition on health and social care, brought an iconic architectural style to the museum, which continued to evolve, ultimately reopening in 2001 after a major remodel by architect Oswald Mathias Ungers. The complex also houses the NRW Forum and previously hosted the Hetjens-Museum, dedicated to ceramics.

The museum's expansive collection includes over 130,000 pieces, displayed across 5,000 square meters. It showcases art from Classical antiquity to contemporary periods, featuring works by renowned artists such as Rubens and Yves Klein, and includes unique design objects like Gunter Fruhtrunk's Aldi plastic bag and Birkenstock shoes. Its impressive holdings feature 14,000 Italian Baroque drawings, an extensive glass collection at the Helmut Hentrich Glass Museum, and important pieces from the ZERO movement.

In 2021, the museum made headlines with the restitution of Franz Marc's The Foxes (1913), a painting acquired by Kurt Grawi in 1928. Persecuted by the Nazis, Grawi was forced to sell the painting to fund his escape from Germany. Following a recommendation from the German Advisory Commission, the painting was returned to Grawi's heirs, underscoring the museum's dedication to ethical stewardship and historical justice.