THE GERMAN Expressionist Gallery at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery will close to the public on Sunday 2 November in the latest phase of the museum’s £7.9million refurbishment.
While the German Expressionist art won’t be returning to the first-floor gallery, exceptional works from the collection will be back on display in a brand new home on the museum’s ground floor from spring 2026.
Paintings such as Red Woman (pictured) by Franz Marc (1912) and Messiah by Ernst Neuschul (1919) – two of the works in the city’s world-renowned collection of German Expressionism – will be on display in a new suite of art galleries that are currently under development.
Alongside the new galleries, a bright and airy new café will open in spring 2026, with a new shop and improved reception area completing the ground floor refurbishment in the summer.
Assistant city mayor Cllr Vi Dempster said: “Our collection of German Expressionist art is extremely popular with visitors, so we wanted to give people plenty of notice of the gallery’s closure.
“Sunday 2 November may be the last chance to see the artworks in their current setting, but the good news is that from spring next year, visitors will be able to see hundreds of works from Leicester’s world class art collection – including our German Expressionism collection – in our new gallery space on the ground floor.
“Visitors can look forward to seeing items from our collection that have never been on public display before, as well as works that have been in storage for more than a decade.
“When the works are complete, the visitor experience should be much improved, with a suite of fully-accessible art galleries, better interpretation of exhibits, improved routes around the museum, and a brilliant new café.”
While the German Expressionism collection is in storage, people will still be able to explore the collection online at germanexpressionismleicester.org
The first-floor gallery itself will be back in use again in late November, when the paintings, sculptures, textiles, prints and photographs submitted by local artists for this year’s Open exhibition will go on display in a much-expanded space for 2025.
A temporary exhibition that explores the evolution of Leicester Museum & Art Gallery since its inception in 1849 will follow.
The space will ultimately form part of a new suite of family-friendly galleries that focus on Ancient Egypt and the environment – a plan that is subject to a successful delivery phase bid to The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Leicester Museums and Galleries is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
The ongoing refurbishment of Leicester Museum & Art Gallery is supported by £766,000 from Arts Council England’s Museum Estate and Development Fund.