DIE KLEINE (THE LITTLE ONE) is the final exhibition of the art competition for primary schools, which has been taking place since 2020. The competition is aimed at all elementary school in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area and aims to give young pupils the opportunity to get creative and experience the museum as an extracurricular place of learning.

The children are free to design their works of art and choose the medium – anything is possible, from pictures to collages, objects or photos to films. All submitted works will be presented in the final exhibition.

DIE KLEINE is under the patronage of Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller.

In autumn 2026, the Kunstpalast will stage a major exhibition dedicated to Düsseldorf artist Winfried Gaul, featuring around 120 paintings and works on paper from the collection donated by Willi Kemp in 2011. Spanning 1955 to 1997, the show offers a wide-ranging survey of Gaul’s practice and highlights the close relationship between the artist and his collector.

Famous paintings, such as Rubens’ Ascension or Cranach’s Unequal Couple, meet exhibits that make many a visitor wonder: Birkenstock sandals and an Aldi bag, for example. Is that art? Of course it is!

Whether miniature or monumental work, everyday object or piece of jewellery, sculpture or porcelain, drawing or interactive VR installation – this collection unites all genres. Thanks to regular new additions and rearrangements as well as temporary interventions and special presentations such as Kunstpalast in Bloom, the permanent collection is always on the move and there is always something new to discover on the tour.

The museum’s collection is extensive, with around 130,000 objects from 11 centuries, various continents and all eras and genres. In addition to the historical holdings of the Düsseldorf Art Academy, other significant contributions to the main collection are the works from the Willi Kemp Foundation and those donated by Wolfgang Hanck.

The presentation of the collection is generously supported by the City of Düsseldorf and our sponsors and museum gallery sponsors.

PalACE STUDIO

Being creative together

Rhino palast

Hidden rooms by Christoph Niemann

Meet Anna Maria

The Taste of kunstpalast

The soccer fan club, the family, the political collective – people strive to belong. Since the invention of photography, the medium has not only captured belonging, but can also fuel or question it. Photography makes it possible to demonstrate that you are part of something bigger. It can also be used to draw boundaries with those who are not part of one’s own community.

The exhibition, which will be on display at the Kunstpalast from February 10 to May 25, 2026, sheds light on the multifaceted relationship between photography and community in the past and present. It brings together applied and artistic positions that explore this relationship – whether with subtle humor, impressive solidarity or with the aim of precise analysis.

Group photos of clubs wanted

Made in Düsseldorf is an exhibition series organised by the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf in cooperation with the Kunstpalast and the NRW-Forum. It is dedicated to contemporary artists who are connected to Düsseldorf and the Rhineland through their studies, their place of residence or their artistic content.

The seventh exhibition, titled BLICKWINKEL (Perspectives), features photographic works from the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf’s art collection. The presentation will be supplemented by works by Tata Ronkholz loaned from a private collection in Düsseldorf.

Over time, photography has evolved from a purely documentary technique designed to capture the world in images into a versatile medium of expression with considerable scope for interpretation. Spanning three chapters and featuring six artists, the exhibition presents different – sometimes contrasting – approaches with a variety of techniques and perspectives on artistic photography as a form of documentation or expression.

Commitment to the Kunstpalast/NRW-Forum

The Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf has been supporting the NRW-Forum in its exhibition and education projects as a partner of the institution since 2017. This year marks the first time that the exhibition is being shown at the Kunstpalast since the NRW-Forum merged with it in 2020. Promoting the arts and supporting cultural institutions in Düsseldorf represent an important part of the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf’s social commitment.

The Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf’s art collection was launched in the 1970s by Fritz Kulins, then chairman of the board. The first works found their way into the collection through corporate exhibitions. The works added to the collection were primarily by students at the art academy, but also by important representatives of the Düsseldorf art scene.

In 2008, a cooperation with the Kunstpalast resulted in the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf’s collection at the Kunstpalast. With these new acquisitions and the focus on the medium of photography, the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf is helping the Kunstpalast to expand its photography collection. In the annual Made in Düsseldorf exhibition, a selection of these new acquisitions – which are based on recommendations made by Linda Conze, the head of the photography collection at the Kunstpalast – are presented to the public. This year, four new acquisitions from the previous year are on display: three works by Rita McBride and a photograph by Tata Ronkholz.

Curator: Esther Breinig, curator of the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf’s art collection

Earth – Archive of Time

The presentation begins by focusing on the earth as a symbol of origin and transience. For thousands of years, it has stood for fertility, stability and the cycle of life. But the earth is not only a mythological symbol, it is also a real material. Artists of the 20th century began to incorporate the diversity of soil materials into their work as an independent means of design. In the work Garden by Düsseldorf artist Günther Uecker, made of sand and stones, a landscape association becomes apparent – oscillating between renewal and destruction. Reliefs, collages and earthy textures make the nature of the world visible and give it a new, artistic expression. In this way, the earth becomes an archive of time in which natural and cultural layers overlap – traces of life that are rearranged by the hand of art.

Air – Invisible Dynamics

Air is paradoxical: omnipresent yet invisible. It enables life on Earth and connects it to the infinite space of the sky. In art, it was initially depicted in the form of wind, fog or smoke, conveying depth and atmosphere. In the 20th century, air itself became the focus as a material: vibrations, pressure and movement became part of artistic experiments. Installations and kinetic objects make the invisible dynamics of the element tangible. Small Sail by New York-based German artist Hans Haacke is set in motion by a fan. Otto Piene’s fire gouache Red Icarus illustrates an energetic moment between departure and hubris. In these skyward-rising air sculptures, technology, nature and collective experience merge into an experience that draws attention to the relationship between humans and the environment. Air stands for freedom and transience, for the invisible that nevertheless has an effect.

The Fifth Element – World of Machines

The four elements alone are not enough to explain the world. Aristotle added ether, the ‘fifth element,’ which fills and orders the cosmos. The last three rooms of the exhibition are devoted to this invisible principle, which symbolically transcends the material world and deals with concepts such as energy, time, space and consciousness. Since the 1950s, numerous artists have devoted themselves to these immaterial dimensions. Light, movement, reflection and vibration replace traditional form. Materials such as glass, mirrors, aluminium and electronic components open up new possibilities for expression. The result is works that oscillate between substance and idea – sensually experienceable, but at the same time intellectually charged.

Power Lab

The Kemp collection