Image: Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal
The Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal has launched ‘Sammlung digital’, offering online access to more than 4,000 works from its holdings for the first time. The initial selection brings together major works from the museum’s painting collection alongside representative sculptures, graphic works and photographs.
Each entry presents core data, an image and information about the work’s current exhibition status. The platform is intended to provide an initial digital view of the collection, with the online holdings set to grow incrementally and eventually expand toward coverage of the museum’s complete collection.
According to the museum, a team has worked on the digitization project for three years. The first phase concentrates on key paintings, while the selections from sculpture, graphics and photography are described as representative rather than comprehensive. The museum has not indicated that every work in its physical holdings is currently available online.
The Von der Heydt Museum’s collection includes around 2,300 paintings, 700 sculptures and 30,000 graphic sheets. Its broader holdings also include photography, decorative arts and objects from outside Europe, areas highlighted in the museum’s current collection presentation, ‘Museum A bis Z. Von Anfang bis Zukunft’.
That exhibition examines the institution’s traditional responsibilities—collecting, preserving, researching, exhibiting and communicating—as well as questions surrounding diversity, digitization, decolonization and participation. It presents lesser-known parts of the collection alongside more familiar works and addresses subjects including provenance research and restitution.
The museum’s digital expansion forms part of a wider set of online access initiatives. Its multimedia guide provides digital tours of current exhibitions, with selected works accompanied by information from the curatorial team. Guides for the museum’s collection presentations are available in German, English and Turkish, and can be used either during a visit or remotely.
The new digital selection is available through the Von der Heydt Museum’s ‘Sammlung Digital’ platform. The museum says the project will continue to develop as further works are digitized and added.
