Grohmann Museum

Grohmann Museum

Exterior of the Grohmann Museum in 2022
Interactive fullscreen map
Established	2007;18 years ago (2007)
Location	1000 N. Broadway Milwaukee, Wisconsin   United States
Coordinates	43°2′37.702″N87°54′28.598″W / 43.04380611°N 87.90794389°W / 43.04380611; -87.90794389
Type	Art museum
Collection size	2,000 works [1]
Director	James Kieselburg
Public transit access	MCTS 15, 18, 30, 57, and Green Line The Hop M-Line
Website	www.msoe.edu/grohmann-museum/

The Grohmann Museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is an art museum located Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose collection focuses on the historical evolution and visual representation of human labor. ^[2]

The museum originated in 2001 after businessman Eckhart Grohmann (born 1936), the former president of the Milwaukee Aluminum Casting & Engineering Company, gifted his art collection to the school, along with funding to operate a structure to display it. The museum building opened in 2007 in a renovated 1924 auto dealership building located next to the city's former German-English Academy. ^{[3] [4]}

Among the institution's 2,000 art pieces are the largest group of works by German Romantic painter Carl Spitzweg in the United States.^{[ citation needed ]} The collection also comprises paintings and sculpture by European and American artists including Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Jan van Goyen, Ludwig Knaus, Eyre Crowe, John George Brown, Max Schlichting, Max Liebermann, Julien Dupré, Norman Rockwell, and Frederic Remington. ^[1]

Both the ceiling painting and floor mural of the museum's entry hall were designed by contemporary German artist Hans Dieter Tylle  [ de ]. ^[5]

Labor Art Collection

• 
  Atrium mosaic by Hans Dieter Tylle
• 
  Rooftop sculpture garden

The Grohmann Museum collection contains over 2,000 European and American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that depict various forms of labor. The objects reflect a variety of artistic styles and subjects that document the evolution of organized work, from manpower and horsepower to water, steam and electric power. The collection spans over 400 years of labor history (17th to 21st centuries). ^[3]

Richard Lorenz, Harvest Time, 1902

Earlier paintings depict handmade crafts and activities, while later images explore artists, craftspeople, and tradespeople during the Industrial and Post-Industrial Age. The collection also comprises 20th- and 21st-century paintings and sculpture addressing the paradoxes of industrialism and a machine-driven world. Some of these works were commissioned by factory owners to present favorable views of steel mills and foundries, yet some others adopt a grassroots approach to labor and social injustices. Most of the works in the collection were produced by German and Dutch artists, including German American painters from Wisconsin such as Carl von Marr and Richard Lorenz. A number of other European countries are also represented.

Since its opening, the museum has generated some controversy, particularly regarding links between some of the collection's artists like Erich Mercker  [ de ] (1891–1973) and the Nazi regime, the Eurocentric focus of the art on display, and Eckhart Grohmann's alleged history of anti-labor union positions. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} In 2014, the museum addressed the specific concerns over Mercker's work for Nazi authorities in the exhibition "Erich Mercker: Painter of Industry". The accompanying catalogue acknowledged that, while the artist was "not fanatical", his decision to join the NSDAP was definitely motivated by antisemitism, a rejection of avant-garde artistic styles, and worries about unemployment in Germany. ^[10]

Carl Spitzweg

The museum houses an important collection of works by German genre painter Carl Spitzweg, displayed in a dedicated gallery, including one of the three versions of The Bookworm on permanent loan from the Milwaukee Public Library. ^{[11] [12]} Another significant painting is The Poor Poet (c. 1837-39), the first of three versions by the artist. ^[13] In 2015, the museum organized a retrospective exhibition of Spitzweg's works in Milwaukee collections, which included nine paintings from the Milwaukee Art Museum. ^[14]

Gallery

• 
  Marten van Valckenborch, River Landscape with Iron Mining Scene, 1611
• 
  Willem Drost, Geographer, 1655
• 
  Carl Spitzweg, The Poor Poet, c. 1837-39
• 
  Friedrich Paul Nerly, Transporting Marble to the Sculptor Thorvaldsen in Rome, 1860-70
• 
  Eyre Crowe, The Forge, 1869
• 
  Ludwig Knaus, Behind the Scenes, 1880
• 
  Julien Dupré, The Hay Harvesters, c. 1880
• 
  John George Brown, Extra, Extra (The Paper Boy), 1904
• 
  Joseph Paul Vorst, Farm Workers, c. 1938
• 
  Joe Jones, Railroad Workers, St. Louis, 1940

Exhibitions

The inaugural special exhibition Physicians, Quacks, and Alchemists, showed 17th century medical paintings and ran from October 27, 2007 to April 14, 2008. ^[15] Since then, the museum has hosted over 50 temporary exhibitions ^[16] , including:

• Stone April 18, 2008 – July 14, 2008
• A Focus on Figures July 25, 2008 – October 4, 2008
• American Steel: Works from the Collection of Tom and Lorie Annarella October 17, 2008 – January 4, 2009
• Cradle of Industry: Works from the Rhineland Industrial Museum January 16 – April 5, 2009
• Wisconsin at Work: Thorsten Lindberg Paintings and Drawings from the MCHS Collection April 17 – August 14, 2009
• The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885) May 15 – October 4, 2009
• Midwest Murals: Joe Jones and J.B. Turnbull from the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University September 4 – December 6, 2009
• Foundry Work: A View of the Industry, The Photographs of Michael Schultz January 15 – April 5, 2010
• Working Wisconsin: Selections from the Museum of Wisconsin Art April 16 – August 20, 2010
• Wonders of Work and Labor: The Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art, Penn State University September 18, 2010 – January 3, 2011
• Lake Boats: The Photography of Jim Brozek and Christopher Winters January 14 – April 3, 2011
• Milwaukee Mills: A Visual History April 15 – August 21, 2011
• Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden September 23 – December 11, 2011
• Working Legacies: The Death and (After)Life of Post-Industrial Milwaukee December 16, 2011 – February 6, 2012
• H. D. Tylle: Touring Germany and Working in Wisconsin February 17 – April 22, 2012
• Great Lakers: Selections from the Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library May 11 – August 6, 2012
• Carl Spitzweg: The Poor Poet and Other Characters August 20 – December 30, 2012
• MSOE at Work: Selections from the Campus Archives September 7 – December 17, 2012
• Bridges: The Spans of North America - Photographs by David Plowden January 18 – April 28, 2013
• Born of Fire: Scenes of Industry from the Westmoreland Museum of American Art May 24 – August 18, 2013
• A Working Ranch by Jim Brozek September 6 – December 13, 2013 ^[17]
• Trains that Passed in the Night: Railroad Photographs of O Winston Link January 17 – April 27, 2014
• Art Shay: Working May 16 – August 17, 2014
• Erich Mercker: Painter of Industry September 5 – December 14, 2014
• The Art of the Milwaukee Road January 16 – April 26, 2015
• Carl Spitzweg in Milwaukee April 9 – September 13, 2015
• H.D. Tylle: Studies April 17 – June 28, 2015
• Metal for Mettle: Historic Commemorative Medals Honoring Labor and Achievement May 15 – August 23, 2015
• Forge Work: New Photography by Michael Schultz September 4 – December 13, 2015
• Art of the North Shore Line January 22 – April 24, 2016
• Milwaukee's Industrial Landscapes: Paintings by Michael Newhall May 27 – August 21, 2016
• On the Job: Photography by Jim Seder September 9 – December 11, 2016
• STEEL: The Cycle of Industry by David Plowden January 20 – April 30, 2017
• Artists at Work: The Cedarburg Artists Guild May 19 – August 20, 2017
• Masterworks from the Grohmann Museum - Celebrating 10 Years September 8 – December 29, 2017
• The Art and Mechanics of Animation January 19 – April 29, 2018
• Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography May 11 – August 19, 2018
• David Plowden's Portraits of Work September 7 – December 30, 2018
• Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming January 18 – April 28, 2019
• Roll Up Your Sleeves May 17 – August 18, 2019
• The Magnificent Machines of Milwaukee September 6, 2019 – January 26, 2020
• IRONBOAT: New Photography by Christopher Winters January 17 – August 7, 2020
• TWO EDMUNDS: Fitzgerald and Lewandowski—Their Mark on Milwaukee September 10 – December 29, 2020
• Electric Steel: Recent Photographs by Michael Schultz January 15 – April 25, 2021
• artWORK by the League of Milwaukee Artists May 21 – August 22, 2021
• The Railroad and the Art of Place: Photographs by David Kahler September 10 – December 19, 2021
• Robert O. Lahmann: Working in Wisconsin January 21 – April 24, 2022
• Familias Unidas: Tribute to the Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement in Wisconsin, 1960s-70 April 22 – August 21, 2022
• A Time of Toil and Triumph: Selections from the Shogren-Meyer Collection of American Art September 9, 2022 – February 26, 2023
• David Plowden: The Architecture of Agriculture April 21, 2023 – August 20, 2023
• Excavations: Paintings and Drawings by Michael Newhall October 20, 2023 – December 17, 2023
• Mining Gems: Stories from the Collection September 8, 2023 – January 21, 2024
• H.D. Tylle at Seventy: American Worklife March 22 – May 26, 2024
• Patterns of Meaning: The Art of Industry by Cory Bonnet Jan. 19 – June 16, 2024
• Crossing the DMZ: A Contemporary Look at Working Women May 9 – August 25, 2024
• Gil Reid and Friends: Working on the Railroad September 6 - December 22, 2024
• On the Edge: The Labor and Environment of Dimensional Stone Quarries January 17 - April 27, 2025
• Going to Work for the Community: A Visual History of the Beckum-Stapleton Little League April 11 - May 25, 2025
• The Kalmbach Art Collection: Pairing Words and Imagery May 16 - August 18, 2025

References

1. "The Collection". Grohmann Museum. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
2. "Grohmann Museum". Milwaukee School of Engineering - MSOE. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
3. Lawrence, Julie (October 11, 2007). "MSOE unveils new Grohmann Museum". OnMilwaukee . Milwaukee, WI: Andy Tarnoff. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
4. "The history of MSOE's Grohmann Museum & the bronze statues that turn". WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR. March 31, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
5. "The Museum". Grohmann Museum. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
6. Harty, Callen (April 8, 2019). "The Art of Labor". Belt Magazine . Pittsburgh, PA: Belt Media Collaborative. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
7. Schumacher, Mary Louise (January 4, 2008). "WSJ blows it, ignores Nazi connection". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Milwaukee, WI: Gannett. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
8. Schumacher, Mary Louise (December 5, 2014). "Grohmann Museum addresses life of controversial Nazi-era artist Erich Mercker". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Milwaukee, WI: Gannett. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
9. Walzer, Joe (August 22, 2018). "Eckhart G. Grohmann". Immigrant Entrepreneurship. Milwaukee, WI: German Historical Institute. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
10. Jung, Patrick J.; Stahnke, Carma M. (2014). Erich Mercker and Technical Subjects: a Landscape and Industrial Artist in Twentieth Century Germany. Milwaukee, WI: MSOE Press. pp. 52–56. ISBN   978-0972804417.
11. Tanzilo, Bobby (May 29, 2014). "MPL gets the go ahead to discuss lending "The Bookworm" to Grohmann". OnMilwaukee . Milwaukee, WI: Andy Tarnoff. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
12. Türk 2015, p. 14.
13. Türk 2014, p. 312.
14. Türk 2015, p. 5.
15. Edinger, Kerensa (November 1, 2007). "The Art of Work". Urban Milwaukee . Milwaukee, WI: Dave Reid. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
16. Lazaga, Debbie (January 23, 2024). "Museum Days 2024: The Grohmann Museum highlights the evolution of organized work". WTMJ . Milwaukee, WI: Good Karma Brands. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
17. Brozek, Jim (2013). A Working Ranch. Milwaukee, WI: MSOE Press - Grohmann Museum. ISBN   978-0980093391.

Bibliography

• Türk, Klaus (2009). Sculptures of Workers: Figures from the Grohmann Museum. Milwaukee, WI: MSOE Press. ISBN   978-0980093346.
• Türk, Klaus (2014). Masterworks from the Grohmann Museum. Milwaukee, WI: MSOE Press. ISBN   978-0972804431.
• Türk, Klaus (2015). Carl Spitzweg in Milwaukee: Paintings from the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Eckhart G. Grohmann Collection, and the Grohmann Museum. Milwaukee, WI: MSOE Press. ISBN   978-0972804462.

External links

• Official website
• Virtual tour of the Grohmann Museum provided by Google Arts & Culture
• Media related to Grohmann Museum at Wikimedia Commons