Galerie Commeter, Art gallery in Hamburg-Altstadt, Germany.
Galerie Commeter is an art gallery at Hermannstraße in Hamburg's Altstadt, near the Rathaus. It has occupied a Jugendstil building there since 1908 and shows changing exhibitions of contemporary artists alongside works by Hamburg painters and graphic artists.
Georg Ernst Harzen opened a Kunst- und Papierhandlung at Johannisstraße 48 in October 1821, and the Kunstverein in Hamburg was housed there from 1822. Johann Matthias Commeter took over in 1824 and moved the business to Neuen Wall 39. The building burned in the Great Fire of 1842; Harzen saved most of the artworks and reopened in 1844. Wilhelm Suhr, owner from 1878, moved the gallery to Hermannstraße and was the first in Hamburg to show Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde and the Brücke expressionists.
The gallery's name comes from Johann Matthias Commeter, who took over its management in 1824 and ran it as Kunst-Handlung J.M. Commeter at Neuen Wall 39. Since 1878 it has been run by the Suhr family, and Carola Persiehl, great-great-granddaughter of Wilhelm Suhr, has directed it since 1997. The connected Kunstverlag moved with the gallery into the Jugendstil building on Hermannstraße in 1908.
The gallery operates with different hours on weekdays and Saturdays, so it is helpful to check ahead before visiting. The location is central in the Altstadt district and easy to reach on foot.
The founder Georg Ernst Harzen built a collection that eventually became one of the most important departments of Hamburg Kunsthalle. His gift shows how a private initiative helped establish what would become one of the city's leading art institutions.
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