From Friedrich to Dix. German Paintings from Dresden’s Galerie Neue Meister
11 November 2008 - 29 March 2009

The State Hermitage Museum announces the exhibition From Fiedrich to Dix. German Paintings from Dresden’s Gallerie Neue Meister, organized by the Hermitage Museum in collaboration with the Galerie Neue Meister of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden with a generous support by V. Potanin Foundation, Moscow.

While the Albertinum is closed for construction and refurbishment, the Galerie Neue Meister of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden is delighted to present major works from its holdings of German paintings at the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The exhibition features representative paintings from the period 1800 to 1945, extending from the Romantic period up to the eras of Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit. Following on from exhibitions in Los Angeles and Beijing, this is the most comprehensive guest exhibition of works from Dresden’s modern masters’ collection so far - and it is being held in one of the world’s most eminent museums.

In no fewer than five halls of the Hermitage, forty nine masterpieces provide an overview of the main collecting focal points of the Galerie Neue Meister and thus present a cross-section through the history of German painting in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The paintings on show by such artists as Lovis Corinth, Conrad Felixmuller, Wilhelm Leibl and Ludwig Richter are representative of the various epochs and trends during that period. However, the paintings selected for the exhibition have also been chosen with reference to the particular perception of German art in Russian art history. Hence, the display includes works by German painters whose themes were influenced by Russian culture. For example, Max Slevogt painted the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and Robert Sterl produced artistic impressions of the arduous work of the Volga boatmen.

In the city on the River Neva, which has a twinning partnership with Dresden, the collection of the Galerie Neue Meister is one of the best-known art collections in Germany.

However, the exhibition not only reflects the close cultural relations between Saxony and Russia, which extend back to the 17th century, but also perpetuates and promotes those relations. The exhibition itself is symbolic of this shared history - it is an expression of gratitude and appreciation for the return of the works of art which were taken to the USSR following the Second World War and which were handed back to the Dresden museums between 1955 and 1958.

One painting that is representative of the history of many pictures from the Dresden Gemaldegalerie which were taken to Russia in 1945 and initially kept there is Adolph von Menzel’s “Sermon in the old Klosterkirche in Berlin”, painted in 1847. This is a central work in the exhibition and it was among those sent back from Russia to Dresden fifty years ago - and now it is being exhibited in Russia again for the first time.

The long tradition of artistic and academic exchange between Dresden and St. Petersburg has been revitalised over the past few years through loans and joint research projects. Particularly worthy of note is the research project initiated in 2005 and financed by the Grant Program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles under the title “Art Transfer - Russo-German Cultural Relations since the 17th Century”. This project will investigate, among other things, the influence of the Kunstkammer of August the Strong on the "Kunstkamera" of Peter the Great, the collection belonging to Count Bruhl and its sale to St. Petersburg, as well as international exhibition exchanges between the Soviet Union and the GDR, or to be more precise between the museums in Leningrad, Moscow and Dresden.

The exhibition curators are Dr. Birgit Dalbajewa, representative of the director Galerie Neue Mester, and Dr. Boris Asvarish, the Chief Researcher of the Western European Department of the State Hermitage Museum.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue From Fiedrich to Dix. German Paintings from Dresden’s Gallerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden - The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, published by The State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg, 2008.

Woman on the Terrace
1824
Carl Gustav Carus
Larger view

Gemetery
1825
Caspar David Friedrich
Larger view