Villa Stuck

This extraordinary museum is off the tourist track for most visitors. But don't miss it.

The artist and teacher Franz Stuck (later Count Franz von Stuck) was mentor and godfather to a generation of Jugendstil (Art Noveau) masters--he taught Kandinsky, Klee, and a brace of other household names. He was a pretty famous artist himself, specialising in classical mythology. This was, I think, little more than an excuse for lots of nudes, since he was a true bohemian louche.

A bohemian louche that got lucky, though. He married a rich American widow, and she underwrote the construction of a truly magnificent house. The architecture draws on classical themes, and the decor is rich, decadent, and arcane. The studio upstairs houses a "temple" to his art, with a reproduction of his most famous work, "The Sin". (The original hangs prominently in the Neue Pinakothek.) The house and its furniture won the architecture prize at the Paris Exhibition of 1900.

If you're maxxed out on art at the Pinakotheken, then spare 90 minutes for a quick schlep to the Villa Stuck. Catch the Museum Line bus 100 toward the Ostbahnhof. Get off at the Friedensengel/Villa Stuck stop, and take a moment to admire the nearby Friedensengel monument. (The so-called "Angel of Peace" has a story all its own...) If you can spare the time, a quick walk further down Prinzregentenstrße will bring you to Prinzregentenplatz, with its famous theater, surrounded by some splendid Art Noveau buildings.

As you enter the Villa, one can turn to the left for the temporary exhibitions housed in what used to be Stuck's art school and garage. To the right is the villa proper, and for a reduced admission you can buy a villa-only ticket. That's really what you came to see.

You can cover the Villa bit in about half an hour or so, and it will be half an hour well spent. It gives visitors a sense of what Munich was like around the turn of the last century, when the city's artistic foment reached a peak.

Absolutely gorgeous! It seems to be kinda off the beaten path, as there were not a lot of people there. That in itself makes it a little more worth visiting, as you don't have to deal with the hustle and bustle of lots of people. But the content itself is worth seeing.

Let me just state right off the bat that there is this gorgeous room, shown exactly how Franz Stuck decorated it. It is a sitting area, and the ceiling is amazing. It's painted to show the eight planets alongside the zodiacs. In the centre of it all is a ceiling light, which is pretty normal, but it also represents the sun. Very nice touch. I could have spent an hour just looking at that ceiling.

Each room is absolutely gorgeous, with amazing ceilings and of course lots of beautiful paintings. They are part of the Jugendstil movement, and the amazing painter Wassily Kandinsky is featured a lot.

The staff themselves are also very nice and the gift shop has lots of great art books, some historical books about Germany, as well as lots of postcards. The prices are not insane and are rather reasonable.

Went to see the exhibition: 'Die Sammlung Gunter Sachs. Von Max Ernst bis Andy Warhol'.

The exhibition was nicely set up in sizeable rooms.

The artists themselves are mostly well know to anyone who likes to visit a museum every now and then.

This is where the guided tour proved to be worth the money as during the tour the tour guide explained about the works in the context of the time it was created. And also what Gunter Sachs' ideas and attitude towards the art and the artist were.

I was glad we were there around 14:00 as by the time we were leaving it started to get very busy.

If you are there during this exhibition, don't forget to visit 'Nebelraum' on the top floor by Gotthard Graubner (1968), a reconstruction of the original. They let in a maximum of 6 people but it's full effect (in my opinion) is when there are no more that two people inside.

THE SECURITY STAFF ARE BULLIES! 9euros for the special exhibition was quite a lot for what it was. There was ques for everything. If we had nt purchased the tickets already I would have walked out and not missed much. It s a nice building but that s about it.