The "Permanent Art Exhibition" was founded in the building of a former brickworks in 1880. On the occasion of the golden wedding anniversary of Grand Duke Carl Alexander and Grand Duchess Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, a skylight hall was added to the exhibition building in 1892, which was given a magnificent Venetian palace façade in 1897 using Gothic spolia. In 1938, the view of the exhibition building was obstructed and the Venetian façade was greatly reduced. Not used again as a venue for special exhibitions until 1955, the Kunsthalle "Harry Graf Kessler" with its extraordinary aura has once again been run by the Stadtmuseum Weimar and the City of Weimar's Department of Culture since 2006.