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Caspar David Friedrich’s “Karlsruher Skizzenbuch” is on View at the Kupferstichkabinett for Five Weeks

12.07.2024
Kupferstichkabinett

In an exceptional show of solidarity, the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz have succeeded in jointly acquiring one of Caspar David Friedrich’s original sketchbooks, the Karlsruher Skizzenbuch. The purchase was made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, the Kulturstiftung der Länder and additional sponsors.

Starting on 12 July 2024, the sketchbook is being shown for five weeks as part of the (Un)seen Stories exhibition at the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) ‒ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin at the Kulturforum, before it travels to Dresden for the Caspar David Friedrich exhibition Wo alles begann (Where It All Started). Subsequently, the sketchbook will be shown in the exhibition Caspar David Friedrich, Goethe and Romanticism in Weimar at the Schiller-Museum in Weimar. In future, the three museums will continue to present the sketchbook in rotation.

Caspar David Friedrich’s Karlsruher Skizzenbuch

Friedrich’s Karlsruher Skizzenbuch, produced from April to June 1804, is a little-known gem with drawing studies from the environs around Dresden. It is of outstanding artistic and art historical importance because it allows a direct view into Friedrich’s working methods and offers varied references to his drawings and paintings.

Although more than 20 sketchbooks by the artist existed previously, only six have survived. Four of them are preserved at the Nationalmuseum in Oslo; until now, only one was owned by a German museum ‒ the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden. The last known sketchbook, formerly part of a private collection, could recently be secured and is now available to the general public. The Grisebach auction house put the sketchbook up for auction on 30 November 2023 with an estimated 1‒1.5 million euro price tag.

Jointly Acquired for Mutual Preservation

The Karlsruher Skizzenbuch is a central element uniting the three participating cultural institutions. Through this joint acquisition, they also wish to show solidarity, which has made it possible to keep this extraordinarily important work in Germany. The sketchbook is to be alternately and collectively kept at the Graphische Sammlungen der Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the Kupferstichkabinett ‒ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and the Kupferstich-Kabinett of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), where it is to be researched, exhibited and elucidated for the public.

Photos: © SPK / Liesa Johannssen/photothek.de, property of the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the museum administrations of the Kupferstichkabinett ‒ Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, the Kupferstich-Kabinett of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. Acquired with funding from the Kulturstiftung der Länder, and for Dresden with support from the Liebelt-Stiftung, Hamburg, Dr Henning Hoesch, the Verein der Freunde des Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden e. V., Dr Martin Schröder, Michael and Elke von Brentano and other donors.