Art bookcase

Since June 5, 2025, an open art bookcase is located in front of the Lenbachhaus. Everyone is welcome to bring their own recommendations, especially art books, and browse the shelves for interesting finds.

By now, Munich’s cityscape features many of these "open libraries," whose ever-changing collections make them popular meeting places. What makes the Lenbachhaus bookcase special is that it is the first one to focus on art books in the broadest sense—and the first to be placed directly in front of a museum.

Anyone interested in art books of all kinds, from exhibition catalogs to essay collections, who would like to pass on personal favorites or discover new ones, can now stop by the bookcase in front of the Lenbachhaus at any time. The library’s "law of the good neighbor" which favors surprising chance finds over targeted searches, is practiced here by all who come to swap and read. The open art bookcase has books for everyone, all year round, day and night.

As employees of an art museum, we felt it was important to establish a connection with our institution in terms of content, specializing in art books in the broadest sense. Books play an important role in our daily work—not only as key sources for scholarly research, but also as part of the exhibitions themselves, whether on display in vitrines or arranged in reading rooms. We regularly produce our own exhibition catalogs, artists’ books, and anthologies, often self-published. Particular attention is always given to the specifics of each topic and to the question: what remains of interest once the exhibition has ended? Since its founding in 1929, the Lenbachhaus has maintained its own library, which serves as a resource for in-house research and is also publicly accessible for academic purposes. It houses publications on all the artists represented in the collection and on topics discussed in exhibitions and projects.

Our art bookcase is part of a broader reflection on how to make the museum square more attractive and explore its potential uses—a subject that has been on our minds for some time. Our aim is to transform the square into a more inviting space for all museum visitors and the wider public.

Cities and their museums should be places of encounter and exchange. We consider our open art bookcase to be a non-commercial offering that operates outside the city’s consumer-oriented spaces and is open to the public. Our intention is for the museum square to no longer be merely a transit area, but to increasingly invite visitors to pause and linger. Reading, exchange, and discussion, we believe, should be essential components of public spaces, helping to shape them and thereby strengthening our shared life together.