Destinations of Desire – Travelling with Artists

The State Museum of Art and Cultural History in Münster is celebrating its 100th anniversary, which will culminate in the exhibition ‘Destinations of Desire – Travelling with Artists’. What spurred artists in past centuries to leave their homes and embark upon journeys of discovery? What are their reasons today? And how did, and do, their travels affect their creative work? In its search for answers, the Museum will take visitors on a journey around the globe to European artists’ destinations of desire. Think of Albrecht Dürer in Venice, Peter Paul Rubens in Rome, August Macke and Paul Klee in Tunisia, Paul Gauguin in Tahiti, or Vincent van Gogh in Paris: when artists go on journeys, it often leads to a sea change in their work. The exhibition will be the first stop in an imaginary trip around the world and through time, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Visitors will follow in the artists’ footsteps, from Paris and Scandinavia, Italy and Greece, the Alps and the Orient, all the way to America, Asia, and the South Pacific. For those who (still) think that ancient and medieval Europeans lived in dark times, this exhibition is a must.