A group of twenty art museums from the Ruhr region have joined together to form the RuhrKunstMuseen, the most thickly condensed network of settings for modern art in the world. They represent a unique artistic landscape, ranging from nineteenth-century art and modernism to contemporary art. Regional artists such as Josef Albers, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, and Emil Schumacher, are represented alongside artists such as Francis Bacon, Max Beckmann, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Nam June Paik, and Gerhard Richter. In this first effort to present itself, each of the museums has produced a text introducing its collection. The volume contains large plates, featuring the highlights of each collection and the architecture of each building. An appendix offers facts about the individual institutions, so that the reader quickly obtains an overview of each one and can better plan a visit to one of the “greatest museums in the world.”
 
Participating museums:
Kunstmuseum Bochum; Kunstsammlungen der Ruhr Universität Bochum; Quadrat Bottrop; Josef Albers Museum; Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund; MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg; Museum DKM/Stiftung DKM, Duisburg; Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; Museum Folkwang Essen; Städtisches Museum Gelsenkirchen; Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum der Stadt Hagen; Emil Schumacher Museum Hagen; Gustav Lübcke-Museum, Hamm; Städtische Galerie im Schlosspark Stünkede, Herne; Flottmann-Hallen, Herne; Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl; Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr; Ludwig Galerie Schloss Oberhausen; Städtische, Kunsthalle; Museen der Stadt Recklinghausen; Zentrum für Internationale Lichtkunst Unna e.V.; Märkisches Museum, Witten