With essays by Peter-Klaus Schuster, Claude Keisch, Angelika Wesenberg and Françoise Forster-Hahn and contributions by Christopher Riopelle and Birgit Verwiebe, this magnificent book traces the development of 19th century German painting through the story of a remarkable institution - the Nationalgalerie in Berlin, one of Germany's most important collections. In their substantial general essays, Françoise Forster-Hahn surveys the social and political background to art and culture in Berlin in the 19th century; Claude Keisch and Angelika Wesenberg discuss the reception of German painting in Germany itself; and Peter-Klaus Schuster provides an historical overview of the Nationalgalerie.
The authors focus on some 75 paintings, from the sublime canvases of Caspar David Friedrich and other Romantic painters early in the 19th century to scenes of industrial Berlin and the brilliantly observed works of the naturalists of the 1840's and 1850's, ending with the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist innovations of French and German artists that so startled Berlin around 1900, when the Nationalgalerie acquired them against the wishes of the highly conservative and anti-French Kaiser.
Richly detailed cityscapes by Eduard Gaertner and Johann Erdmann Hummel provide wonderful views of mid-century Berlin, and powerful works by Max Beckmann and Lovis Corinth announce the Expressionism of later decades of the 20th century. This valuable introduction for English-speaking readers to the great achievements of German artists in the 19th century is also a reminder of a time, a century ago, when Berlin was the fastest growing metropolis in Europe, and a vital and exciting centre of new art, as it has become again since reunification. This book is published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery in London and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.publiarq.com
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