Das legendäre Gemälde des Expressionismus "Der Turm der blauen Pferde" von Franz Marc gilt seit Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs als verschollen, nachdem es von den Nationalsozialisten 1937 als "entartet" beschlagnahmt wurde. Erhalten hat sich aber der einzige farbige Entwurf des Gemäldes auf einer Postkarte, die Franz Marc Neujahr 1913 an die befreundete Dichterin Else Lasker-Schüler sandte. Als Teil der neuen Sammlungspräsentation und anlässlich des 100. Todesjahrs von Franz Marc ist der "Der Turm der blauen Pferde" mit weiteren 21 bemalten Postkarten Franz Marcs aus der Fohn-Schenkung in Saal 10 der Pinakothek der Moderne ausgestellt, ergänzt um die Vorstudie zu Franz Marcs Hauptwerk "Tierschicksale", 1913: "Die Bäume zeigten ihre Ringe, die Tiere ihre Adern".

Documenting political and social conflicts has always been one of the central tasks of photography. This newly arranged presentation of works from our collections focuses on the way that artists tackle the topics of war, displacement and forced migration. The works exhibited have evolved out of the artists’ engagement with the lingering after-effects of the Second World War, or are played out at the intersections of the so-called First and Third Worlds, be it along the US-Mexican border fence or on the external borders of Europe. Their complex visual narratives are based upon concrete events and critically reflect upon their historical representations and social relevance. They contrast images conveyed through the media and official histories with different readings, informed by personal perspectives.

An armada of matryoshka figures in different sizes awaits visitors on the upper floor of the Pinakothek der Moderne. The room-sized installation "La femme de ma vie ne m’aime pas encore" (The woman of my life doesn’t yet love me, 1999) comes from Daniel Knorr. Born in Bucharest in 1968 and raised in Germany, Knorr is one of the most versatile artists of his generation. The round, friendly figures evoke many associations, from family ties to Russian clichés and the global souvenir industry. Their proximity to the installation "Double Garage" (2002) by Thomas Hirschhorn, which takes armed conflicts that arise out of discrimination or a lust for power as its central theme, makes Knorr’s nesting dolls seem like a silent civil society, wordlessly enduring or mutely protesting.

The concepts "black and scriptural" form a striking connection between two work cycles by Sigmar Polke (1941–2010) and by Fabienne Verdier (b. 1962), here exhibited in productive juxtaposition. The work of contemporary painters, as in the Sammlung Moderne Kunst and the Brandhorst Collection, is naturally multifaceted, colourful and materially dense, ranging in style from abstraction to figuration, both narrative and symbolic. But painting can also come in reduced black-and-white or strict monochrome: in fact, this has been a standard practice for centuries. In this mode, painting bears a close relation to calligraphy, draughtsmanship, and the graphic arts. In all these contexts, the line is fundamental, whether straight and spare, or made with grand sweeps of a paint-saturated brush, as in Verdier’s work. The transgression of media boundaries is just as important. This is made clear in the "Dürer-Loop" cycle, in which Polke, a humorous and mercurial painter, engages with Albrecht Dürer, the greatest German artist of the Renaissance. These have the format of paintings, but are executed with a disciplined draughtsman’s line, and they use silver oxide, a material more usually associated with photography. Polke’s eight "Dürer Loops" were created for the German Pavilion at the 1986 Venice Biennale. They were acquired in 1992 by the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen with the support of PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne. Verdier’s "Mélodie du reel" was made for the 2014 exhibition "Königsklasse II", at Herrenchiemsee New Palace. It was acquired for the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in 2016, with the assistance of the International Patrons of the Pinakothek.

The Michael & Eleonore Stoffel Foundation, working in close cooperation with the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, has acquired five works by Anselm Kiefer. The acquisitions represent a milestone in the development of the collection. The work of Anselm Kiefer (b. Donaueschingen, 1945) helped to break the silence surrounding Germany’s National Socialist past, while creating a powerful language to address superimposed layers of culture. He delves deeply into pagan, Christian, kabbalah and far-Eastern traditions, linking them with the contemporary world of our own experience. The pictures—among them the monumental painting "The Sand from the Urns" (2009) and "Occupations" (1969/2011), two large images on a background of lead—represent a new highlight in the Pinakothek der Moderne’s collection. The 1974 painting "Nero Paints", hitherto the only Kiefer in the collection (from the Wittelsbach Compensation Fund), now forms the basis of an expanded and exemplary set of works. At the Pinakothek, these can be seen in a broader context of individual works or entire groups of works by artists including Baselitz, Beuys, Laib, Polke, and Rainer, as well as Flavin, Judd, Twombly and Warhol.

For the opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne, Olaf Metzel created a sculpture that highlighted the stage-like appearance of the staircase. The artist was particularly interested by the lone column on the mid-landing, which he dressed in a dazzling robe of colourful acrylic glass, in the centre of which he stacked deformed plastic chairs. Metzel named this eccentric work ‘Journey to Jerusalem’, (the West-German name for musical chairs) and it soon became one of the museum’s most iconic works. This expansive work may be seen again on the occasion of the museum's 15th anniversary.

Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki (b. 1940) is one of the most prolific, and provocative photographers of our time. His work spans a wide range of topics, from highly erotic representations of women to artificial still lifes, botanical portraits, photo-journalistic depictions of everyday life, and architectural photography – and almost diary-like shots of himself and his late wife. Composed of 28 diptychs, Tokyo (1969–1973) is the template for one of Araki’s first book projects and stands at the beginning of his long-term engagement with Tokyo’s lifestyles and urban environment. Opposites such as anonymous and familiar, clothed and nude, interior and exterior worlds function as subtle references to the separation between public and private life, between dream and reality. In 2004, the original edition of the book Tokyo (1973) was acquired with the support of PIN. The exhibition introduces the Tokyo series, supplemented by additional early photographs by Araki, as well as artists’ books from the sixties and seventies.