Views on Europe - Europe and German Painting in the 19th Century

The exhibition "Views on Europe" examines how Europe was portrayed in German painting of the 19th century. How did Germans see Europe in that era influenced by artists ranging from Goethe to Rilke? What did they observe and what didn't they notice? While many artists looked to the south - to Greece and Italy as the roots of European culture on the whole - others peered over the fence to their French, Dutch and Austrian neighbours. Of course, there are numerous references to other European nations, as well. Caspar David Friedrich, for instance, was inspired by the stunning landscapes of Bohemia and Silesia, and Belgium provided the field of historical painting with important thematic impulses. This exhibition in Brussels will not only focus on the thematic points mentioned above, which - in the spirit of the European Union - demonstrates the common links between nations, states and regions, but will also present the large German museums which hold important collections of art from this period, in particular those from Berlin, Dresden and Munich. This two-fold concept reveals Germany's history as the history of small states whose interaction helped form cultural unity and diversity.
The exhibition will feature a large array of artists, including Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Karl Blechen, Caspar David Friedrich, Philipp Otto Runge, Adolph Menzel and Max Liebermann.

(Credits: Christian Gottlieb Schick, Bildnis der Heinrike Dannecker, 1802, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie)