4/5/2004
Franz von Lenbach
Two venues, Munich
In commemoration of the centenary of his death the Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen will honor the memory of the Malerfurst ('prince of painting') with an exhibition in the Neue Pinakothek and the Schack-Galerie entitled 'Franz von Lenbach – Sun Paintings and Portraits'. Along with paintings from its own collection, numerous loaned works will be presented from Germany and abroad. Among these are four paintings from the Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum in Seattle, which, specially for this exhibition, are returning to their site of origin after many years.
Sun Paintings and Portraits
An exhibition in the Neue Pinakothek and the Schack-Galerie Munich
The Munich artist Franz von Lenbach (1836 – 1904) was, during the second half of the 19th century, one of Europe's most sought after portraitists. In commemoration of the centenary of his death on May 6, 2004, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen will honor the memory of the Malerfürst ('prince of painting') with an exhibition in the Neue Pinakothek and the Schack-Galerie entitled 'Franz von Lenbach – Sun Paintings and Portraits'. Along with paintings from its own collection, numerous loaned works will be presented from Germany and abroad. Among these are four paintings from the Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum in Seattle, which, specially for this exhibition, are returning to their site of origin after many years.
The presentation in the Schack-Galerie will primarily center around Lenbach's early works. Aside from selected portraits from the late-1860's – including the charming Study of a Girl (Vienna, Österreichische Galerie), in style and character reminiscent of Courbet – the focus will be on the famous 'Hirtenknabe' (shepherd boy) from 1860. Accompanying this painting – which has become virtually a visual synonym for blissful idleness – will be several characteristic works of the artist completed between 1856 and 1860.
Bright and colorful – for good reason Lenbach himself called them his 'sun paintings' – these works form a strong contrast to his darker, late paintings. Like the Hirtenknabe painting, which shows a boy lying on his back, stretched on a grassy, flower-covered hill, staring into a sunny blue sky, the other mostly small formatted works are a tribute to the carefree, countryside summer days in Lenbach's homeland region Schrobenhausen. Paintings from the collection of the Staatsgemäldesammlung will be supplemented with important works from, among others, Hannover's Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the Oskar Reinhart Foundation in Winterthur, as well as from private lenders.
The Neue Pinakothek will be celebrating Lenbach the portraitist. Having been schooled on the works of various old masters, Lenbach combined in his portraits the traditional, skillful touch of his preceptors with a psychologically-nuanced representation that captured the essence of his models. This brought him not only enormous public popularity, but the admiration of his contemporaries who called him a 'a painter of the soul', and even 'a psychologist with a brush.' Various facets of his portraiture will be presented in three museum spaces:
Lenbach, painter of princes
There was hardly another 19th century painter who was afforded the opportunity to paint as many portraits of contemporary sovereigns as Lenbach was. Already during his self-described 'second apprenticeship' – during which time he was commissioned by Count Schack to copy famous old master works in Spain and Italy – Lenbach was preoccupied with doing portraits of monarchs, exemplified by one of the artist's most brilliant paintings from this period: the large copy of Titian's 'Carl V on Horseback' from the Prado in Madrid.
For this exhibition it has been possible to bring together several of Lenbach's most impressive portraits of rulers, including that of Pope Leo XIII and the portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph I, which was loaned by the Hofburg in Vienna. A selection of seven of the best Bismarck portraits will be shown, selected from the over eighty that Lenbach completed of the Imperial Chancellor. Owing to great demand, Lenbach often made several copies of his own works. This will be exemplarily illustrated for the first time with four masterly replicas of the portrait of Emperor Wilhelm I from the year 1887.
Lenbach and his fellow artists – comparative portraiture
The second central theme of the exhibition in the Neue Pinakothek is to be formed through a comparison of Lenbach's work with portraits done by his fellow artist, including Lovis Corinth, Friedrich August von Kaulbach, Hans Makart and Franz von Stuck. Fundamental parallels in portraiture from the Wilhelminian era will be revealed and, correspondingly, the general character of Lenbach's art brought to light.
The 'wonder of light'. Lenbach and photography
The last part of the exhibition is intended to encourage thought-provoking associations between the artist's painting and photography. Just how varied he put his photographic illustrations to use during his creative process and subsequently which alterations he made to reach his sought after goal is exposed through the fascinating contrast between the finished work and the corresponding photograph.
Those who commissioned art from Lenbach were aware that the artist used photography as part of the painting process, whereby he never 'imitated' the photograph. The exhibition will show rather how the artist employed his photographic material and how he ultimately – through the numerous photos – composed a painting.
Curators: Alice Arnold, Jürgen Wurst and Reinhold Baumstark
Press preview: May 5, 2004, 11.00 a.m., entrance hall Neue Pinakothek
Opening: May 5, 2004, 07.00 p.m.
Duration: May 6 – August 8, 2004
Exhibition
Portraits in the Neue Pinakothek and sun paintings in the Schack-Galerie, Munich
Neue Pinakothek
Daily except TUES
10.00 am – 05.00 pm
WED 10.00 am – 08.00 pm
Schack-Galerie
Daily except MON and TUES
10.00 am – 05.00 pm
A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition and will cost Euro 29.90 in the museum.
Image: Franz von Lenbach | Gräfin Leonie Wedel, 1902
Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum, Seattle
Press information:
Tine Nehler, M.A., Press | Public Relation
Pinakothek der Moderne, Kunstareal | Barer Str. 29, 80799 München
Telefon: + 49 89 23805-118