Andy’s in the basement, and Cy Twombly is on top, in a room designed specially for him. Fitting, I suppose, given Warhol’s condition.
Just kidding. 
On my way back to New York from Salzburg last week, I stopped for a day (well, most of a day) in Munich, where among other things I made a visit to its newest art attraction: The Brandhorst Museum. Situated near the three Pinokotheks — Alte, Neue and Moderne — it’s where I learned about the above arrangement.
The Brandhorst opened last May, and adds a hefty collection of some 700 contempory art works to Munich’s art scene.
Like many new museums — this one founded by Udo Brandhorst and his late wife Anette, who gave their collection to Bavaria provided the state erected galleries for it — the building is a big part of the attraction. Designed by Sauerbruch Hutton architects, it’s adorned with three sets of vertical ceramic rods, glazed in 23 colors, from light pink and yellow to deep violet and blue. It’s meant to look like an abstract painting. While it’s definitely different from its environment — there’s no other colored building in sight — the box structure fits in. No Denver-like statements here.
And say what you will about the white-cube concept for galleries, it works well for this collection.
Warhol and Twombly are the strengths, but the Brandhorsts also bought works by Baselitz, Beuys, Polke, Naumann, Chamberlain, Wool and the other contemporary artists.
The Twombly room (left), designed to showcase his Lepanto cycle, is particularly successful.
There’s also a handy lounge nearby, where visitors can see out to the Pinokothek der Moderne and the Alte Pinokothek — “an open invitation to you to continue your encounter with the world of art,” says a brochure.
I don’t know how many people in the Brandhorst intended to do that, but on this particular Saturday afternoon — a bit gray and damp, but not raining — the museum was fairly crowded, especially the ground floor cafe.
Photos: Courtesy Brandhorst Museum