The Emil Schumacher Museum stands not far from the spot where Schumacher, as a student, watched the expressionist Christian Rohlfs at work through his studio window in the Folkwang building and dreamed of one day being able to make a living from art himself.
Emil Schumacher's dream came true: he became one of the first German painters to regain international recognition after National Socialism. Despite many journeys and guest professorships all over the world, Emil Schumacher, who was born in Hagen in 1912, remained committed to his hometown throughout his life and spent a large part of his life there.
Founding of the museum
Emil Schumacher's life and work are clearly at the centre of the museum. The museum was made possible by the great commitment of Ulrich Schumacher, the artist's son. He made numerous works by his father available and founded the Emil Schumacher Foundation, which runs the museum.
The city of Hagen also contributed a great deal to the founding of the museum. In 1997, on the initiative of Johannes Rau, the Hagen City Council decided to build a museum for his works. The firm of Lindemann Architekten designed the exposed concrete building, which is connected to the Osthaus Museum Hagen by a glass shell.
Lust for dealing with colour and materiality
Although Schumacher was reluctant to classify himself as belonging to the German Informel movement, his work certainly bears a resemblance to it: His lust for dealing with colour and materiality is evident in his work time and again. The dynamism and drama of the pictures make the processual nature of his working method visible.
The museum's collection comprises around 500 works from various creative phases by Schumacher, including paintings, gouaches, graphic works, ceramics and pictures on porcelain and slate. Even though the large-format, luminous paintings quickly attract the viewer's attention, the quieter works on the three floors are also worth a look. A series of delicate bird drawings ("Uccelli") on slate, for example.
Visitors can also gain an insight into Schumacher's working methods in the painter's studio. It was moved to one floor of the museum for this purpose. Between buckets of paint and canvases, you can still feel Schumacher's spirit.
The presentation of the collection is complemented by temporary exhibitions with works that are close to Schumacher's work in terms of content or form.
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