From March 23, 2024, the Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation will show the group exhibition “Der Himmel über Brandenburg (The Sky over Brandenburg): Landscapes of Berlin Impressionism” with works by Philipp Franck, Karl Hagemeister, Walter Leistikow, Emil Pottner, Lesser Ury, Paul Process and Julie Wolfthorn. The Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation’s first special exhibition this year is dedicated to Berlin Impressionism. Above all, the exhibition aims to show the diversity with which artists of Berlin Impressionism portrayed the characteristics of the Brandenburg landscapes. In addition to famous artists such as Walter Leistikow, Lesser Ury and Karl Hagemeister, works by artists who are now mostly only known to a specialist audience can also be seen in the exhibition. The painter Julie Wolfthorn represents the women who had a decisive influence on the Berlin artistic avant-garde at the end of the 19th century.
Image above: Walter Leistikow, Märkischer Waldsee mit zwei Birken, around 1895, oil on canvas, Bröhan, Museum, Berlin / legacy from the Werner and Irmgard Küpper collection, Berlin, reproduction: Martin Adam, Berlin
41 paintings are collected in the exhibition. The paintings are on loan from Berlin museums such as the Bröhan Museum, the City Museum, the Berlinische Galerie and from numerous private collectors. Some works are being shown in an exhibition for the first time.
The exhibition shows spectacularly staged landscape paintings that are still touching today. The underlying mentality appears extremely current: Impressionism in Germany was closely linked to a desire for closeness to nature and originality, triggered not least by a feeling of being overwhelmed by technology, acceleration and urbanization. In this sense, the often sketchy-looking, French-oriented paintings should by no means be misunderstood as well-behaved. In their time they were perceived as avant-garde and met with resistance in the conservative empire.
Impressionism began much later in Germany than in France. He had his center in Berlin and was able to develop his own style characteristics here. The landscapes were no longer composed in the studio, but rather executed on the spot in order to capture the special features of the moment – weather, light, season and especially atmospheric skies – in the picture using sections of nature. The striking landscapes of Brandenburg, which previous generations of artists had considered boring, now appeared attractive as a contrast to the rapid modernization of Berlin and became a frequently painted motif.
For the protagonists, their attempt to ignore urban life in their images and approach nature in a new way was more than just a desire for artistic development. They understood Impressionism primarily as a way of life, but also as opposition to the academic art world, which was reflected in the founding of artist associations such as the Berlin Secession.
WHEN?
Saturday, 23. March until Sunday, 02. June 2024
Wed – Sun, from 11 am to 6 pm
Opening: Saturday, 23. March, 3 pm
Curator tours:
Sunday, 14. April 2024, 3 pm
Sunday, 5. May 2024, 2 pm
WHERE?
Schloss Neuhardenberg
Schinkelplatz
15320 Neuhardenberg
COSTS?
Regular: € 5
Reduced: € 3
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