Works by Expressionist artists were actively acquired in the 1920s. The collection suffered a severe blow in 1937 as a result of the ‘Degenerate Art’ campaign: more than twenty works by renowned artists, including drawings by Wilhelm Morgner, Christian Rohlfs, Lovis Corinth, Wilhelm Lehmbruck and Walter Ophey, were lost forever.

In the post-war period, the museum succeeded in purchasing works by Max Beckmann. Thanks to a generous donation, the museum also acquired a watercolour by Emil Nolde. The collection is further enriched by other individual works, including a drawing by August Macke.

In the final decades of the twentieth century, drawings and prints by Westphalian artists were also acquired for the collection. Works by Wilhelm Morgner, Eberhard Viegener, Wilhelm Wulff and Otto Coester strengthened the collection’s focus.

Through donations and targeted acquisitions, works of Informel art, in particular, were added to the Gustav-Lübcke-Museum in Hamm. Works by Hann Trier, Hans Hartung, Karl Otto Götz, Gerhard Hoehme, Wols and numerous other important representatives of the German Informel movement form the basis of one of the most significant collections of this art movement. In the 2000s, the artistic estate of Hans Kaiser, including numerous prints and drawings, was added to the museum’s collection. Kaiser’s work is currently being systematically catalogued as part of a research project (2020–2022).

Please feel free to contact: Ronja Friedrichs