In the Atelier of History
The Painting Collection of the German Historical Museum
An exhibition of the German Historical Museum
25 October 2012 to 21 April 2013
Curators: Dr. Sabine Beneke, Dr. Brigitte Reineke, Dr. Dieter Vorsteher-Seiler, Dr. Thomas Weißbrich
On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the German Historical Museum is presenting paintings from its collection in their own exhibition for the first time. More than 100 selected works from the time between the 14th and 20th centuries are examples that represent the entire collection of more than 2,500 paintings, and thus stand for a successful policy of building up and expanding the collections of the house.
The paintings, originally acquired for the museum as documents of history, are to be shown here as individual artistic works in their own right, allowing them to develop their “own” histories. This will help to illustrate the different functions of painting in the past 600 years. The staging of rulers and their circles, the representation of significant historical events, but also the painterly interpretation of the “little man” and depictions of everyday life invite the viewer to an encounter with past worlds.
The exhibition “In the Atelier of History” shows masterpieces by such artists as Giuliano Bugiardini, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hyacinthe Rigaud, François Gérard, Franz Krüger and Willi Baumeister, who recorded for posterity famous personages like Emperor Maximilian I, Martin Luther, Napoleon I or Wilhelm von Humboldt. In addition, battle paintings, cityscapes, panoramas and scenes of everyday life take the visitor on an informative and exciting journey through time.