Monumental stained glass window in the entrance hall of the Kunstpalast collections wing, Original 1925-1926, remake 1984
Coloured plate glass, lead rods
(H x W) (circa)15 m × 11,6 m
Place of originKevelaer
About the workThe entrance to the Kunstpalast’s collection wing is dominated by this monumental stained-glass window. The panes fit into the structural framework of the hall designed by the architect Wilhelm Kreis. Johan Thorn Prikker was appointed as a teacher of glass and mosaic art at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1923. In 1926, the Dutch artist created this stained-glass window for the “GeSoLei” exhibition, which was a fair for “Public Health, Social Welfare and Physical Exercise”, as the abbreviated German words would translate. “GeSoLei” was also the reason why the buildings were erected at Ehrenhof the same year. Branded as “degenerate art” by the National Socialists, the window was supposed to be removed before 1939. This did not happen – possibly due to a lack of an alternative – but the work was destroyed during the bombing raids on Düsseldorf in 1943. Financed by the Friends of the Kunstpalast, the window was reconstructed in 1984 by the Hein Derix stained-glass workshops in Kevelaer, which had also created the original. As a basis, the workshops used preserved sample windows and the artist’s original templates.
AccessionPermanent loan of the Friends of the Kunstpalast
Inventory numberLP 1984-34
