Träger

The Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst is funded by the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie (Association of Friends of the Nationalgalerie; hereafter: Verein). Re-founded in 1977 as a charity, the Verein is substantially supporting the work of the Nationalgalerie which comprises six locations: Alte and Neue Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, Museum Berggruen as well as the Collection Scharf-Gerstenberg.

According to its statutes the main purpose of the Verein is ”to give lasting support to the Nationalgalerie and, thus, to participate in its further development.” This goal was pursued by financing over ninety acquisitions totalling about 50 million Euros during the past thirty-two years. The purchases include important works of art such as ”Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue” by Barnett Newman, the ”Skat Players” by Otto Dix or Eduard Gaertner's ”Ansicht der Rückfront der Häuser der Schlossfreiheit” (view of the rear facade of the houses in the castle square).

Among the contemporary works acquired in the past were, for example, ”Project for the Nationalgalerie” by Jenny Holzer, works by Christian Jankowski, the artist duo Elmgreen&Dragset, Corinne Wasmuht, Via Lewandowski, Thomas Demand, Michel Majerus and Fiona Tan. The purchases are made possible by the annual membership contributions as well as further donations by members and other patrons.

In 1984, beside funding purchases, the Verein for the first time also supported an exhibition project of the Nationalgalerie: ”Edgar Degas. Pastels, Sketches in Oil, Drawings”. Since then, more than forty large and small exhibition were funded and organised as well. The exhibition "The MoMA in Berlin" with 1.2 million visitors marked the peak of twenty years' involvement in exhibitions, which ranged from Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Max Ernst and, at three times, Picasso to Kiefer, Baselitz, Twombly, Rebecca Horn and Brice Marden. Highlights of the exhibition year 2008 were the comprehensive retrospectives of the work of the artists Hiroshi Sugimoto, Paul Klee and Joseph Beuys. In 2009, the series of exhibitions is being continued, for example, with an exceptional guest appearance of the Collection Pietzsch entitled ”Bilderträume” (dreams in pictures) and a large topical retrospective of the artist Thomas Demand.

Awarded for the first time in the year 2000, the Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst represents another pillar in the Verein's commitment to contemporary art, which has been complemented in 2005 by the founding of the „Stiftung des Vereins der Freunde der Nationalgalerie für zeitgenössische Kunst“ (Foundation of the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie for contemporary art) www.vfn-stiftung.org. The foundation's capital deriving from the profits made from the MoMA exhibition provides the Hamburger Bahnhof museum with an annual budget for purchases of about 300,000 Euro. In 2006, the foundation was already able to buy Omer Fast’s work ”Spielberg’s list”.