23.05.2007 to 28.10.2007
Accompanying the large exhibition of French masterpieces from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in the New National Gallery, the Old National Gallery presents its entire collection of French art, centred around the Impressionists. The pictures by Manet and Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, and the other painters included are all of the highest quality.
When purchasing the works around 1900, museum director Hugo von Tschudi was able to choose quite freely from an ample supply, for the Berlin National Gallery was one of the first museums worldwide to include Impressionist paintings in its collection. At the same time, the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) was concentrating on the acquisition of drawings and graphic art by French masters. Here, thirty works from the Kupferstichkabinett's rich holdings are shown in a cabinet exhibition.
A third section of the exhibition is dedicated to "Berlin Impressionism": it introduces paintings from the Berlin Secession of around 1900. Throughout the gallery, the works on display allow visitors to trace the sustained influence of the French model on German art. The "peinture française" is the topic for summer 2007 - the Old National Gallery on the Museum Island Berlin is also participating in the event.
