As of October 1 Dr. Philipp Demandt is the new director of the SCHIRN, Städel and Liebieghaus. Nine facts you should know about him.
FROM BERLIN TO FRANKFURT
Berlin was yesterday. Frankfurt is today. Before Philipp Demandt assumed the role of director of the SCHIRN, Städel Museum and Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung as of October 1, he spent four years as director of Berlin’s Alte Nationalgalerie.
Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Image via commons.wikimedia.org
REMBRANDT BUGATTI, IM/EX AND A RETURNED MONK
At the Alte Nationalgalerie Philipp Demandt demonstrated how one can take a creative approach to working with a museum and its collection. Among the exhibition highlights under his tenure were “Impressionism - Expressionism. Art at a Turning Point”, a show with animal sculptures by Italian modernist sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti, and most recently “The Monk has Returned”. The latter was a presentation of the restored masterpieces “Monk by the Sea” and “The Abbey in the Oakwood” by the great German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.
'Rembrandt Bugatti' exhibition view with Philipp Demandt, Image via zimbio.com
YEARS OF STUDY AND TRAVEL, AND A QUEEN
Philipp Demandt studied Art History, Classical Archeology and Journalism. He obtained his doctorate in 2001 at the Institute of History and Cultural Studies at Freie Universität Berlin with a thesis on the history of the creation and impact of the portrait of Queen Louise by sculptors Johann Gottfried Schadow and Christian Daniel Rauch and the historical mythology of the Prussian state as reflected by the “cult of Louise”. Or put more simply: He explored why Queen Louise of Prussia (1776–1810) came to symbolize the founding myth of the German Empire.
Louise Princess of Mecklenburg [-Strelitz], known as Queen Louise of Prussia, next to her sister Friederike, Image via commons.wikimedia.org
HIS VERY FIRST JOB
In 2004 Philipp Demandt became head of department at the Kulturstiftung der Länder (Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States). He advised and supported German cultural institutions with the acquisition and financing of artworks from prehistory and early history to the 19th century and with exhibition projects and ideas.
THIS OR THAT SIDE OF THE RIVER MAIN?
One of the first and most difficult decisions any new citizen of Frankfurt must make is whether to live on the north or south side of the River Main. Philipp Demandt opted for the north side, the railway station district, known for short as the BHFSVRTL.
HESSEN-BRED
Philipp Demandt is no stranger to Frankfurt “green sauce” and apple wine, after all, he is in fact Hessian. His mother is from Kassel and his father, from Marburg, is one of the best-known German ancient historians. His grandfather was Hessen regional historian Karl Ernst Demandt.
Apple wine made in Frankfurter, Image via zumbaeren.net
ONE MAN, ONE WORD
Writing is one of Philipp Demandt’s passions. Over the past few years he has published essays and articles on art and cultural history in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt and WELTKUNST. In addition, for several years he conceived and managed the magazine “Arsprototo”, published by Kulturstiftung der Länder, as well as its academic publication series “Patrimonia”. An ideal basis for the SCHIRN MAG.
Cover of the publication Arsprototo, Image via kulturstiftung.de
THE NEW JOB
Philipp Demandt is looking forward to the SCHIRN: “I am delighted to assume management of the SCHIRN, but at the same time it is a challenge. My previous exhibition work was often shaped by the search for the extraordinary, the new, the undiscovered, and I look forward to continuing in this vein at the SCHIRN with its dedicated team – and that going beyond the boundaries of art historical categories”.
SUMM CUM DEMANDT
Born in 1971 in Konstanz on beautiful Lake Constance, Philipp Demandt is now 45 years old. This makes him exactly 15 years older than the Schirn, which was officially inaugurated in February 1986. And moreover 45 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9.
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