Menzel. Paintings on Paper
Adolph Menzel was the eye of the nineteenth century. In autumn of 2019, the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett 鈥� which possesses the largest collection of works on paper by this German artist, comprising more than 6,000 works 鈥� is rediscovering Menzel as a painter of works on paper with a major solo exhibition. The show will feature around 100 works in watercolour, pastels and gouache from the museum鈥檚 own holdings, along with a number of key loans. Together, they offer the first comprehensive survey of Menzel鈥檚 painterly works on paper.
Adolph Menzel (1815鈥�1905) is known as a painter of large works on canvas, and as the creator of countless studies in pencil. But it was first as a painter of works on paper that he began to employ the full palette of his artistic gifts of expression, creating colourful works ranging from experimental portrait studies through to elaborately composed paintings.
The majority of the works shown in the exhibition are standalone works, however there are also a number of preparatory studies for famous paintings 鈥� including the portrait studies carried out in preparation for the coronation picture commissioned by King Wilhelm I, which Menzel painted between 1861 and 1865, and which represents the largest and of Menzel鈥檚 paintings, depicting countless figures.
The exhibition presents the different sides of Menzel鈥檚 work as a painter of works on paper chronologically and according to techniques, arranging selected works into 10 鈥榗hapters鈥�. At the same time, it gives visitors an insight into the specific effects of watercolours, pastels and gouache, and Menzel鈥檚 particular mixed technique. There is a particular focus on his pastel technique, which between the mid-1840s and the late 1850s functioned as a crucial bridge between drawing and painting for Menzel.
Alongside fragmentary sketches, the show will also feature experiments and abandoned drafts 鈥� such as a detailed 鈥渄rapery study鈥� rendered by Menzel in luminous chalk on paper, and later destroyed with energetic gestures.
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Adolph Menzel was the eye of the nineteenth century. In autumn of 2019, the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett 鈥� which possesses the largest collection of works on paper by this German artist, comprising more than 6,000 works 鈥� is rediscovering Menzel as a painter of works on paper with a major solo exhibition. The show will feature around 100 works in watercolour, pastels and gouache from the museum鈥檚 own holdings, along with a number of key loans. Together, they offer the first comprehensive survey of Menzel鈥檚 painterly works on paper.
Adolph Menzel (1815鈥�1905) is known as a painter of large works on canvas, and as the creator of countless studies in pencil. But it was first as a painter of works on paper that he began to employ the full palette of his artistic gifts of expression, creating colourful works ranging from experimental portrait studies through to elaborately composed paintings.
The majority of the works shown in the exhibition are standalone works, however there are also a number of preparatory studies for famous paintings 鈥� including the portrait studies carried out in preparation for the coronation picture commissioned by King Wilhelm I, which Menzel painted between 1861 and 1865, and which represents the largest and of Menzel鈥檚 paintings, depicting countless figures.
The exhibition presents the different sides of Menzel鈥檚 work as a painter of works on paper chronologically and according to techniques, arranging selected works into 10 鈥榗hapters鈥�. At the same time, it gives visitors an insight into the specific effects of watercolours, pastels and gouache, and Menzel鈥檚 particular mixed technique. There is a particular focus on his pastel technique, which between the mid-1840s and the late 1850s functioned as a crucial bridge between drawing and painting for Menzel.
Alongside fragmentary sketches, the show will also feature experiments and abandoned drafts 鈥� such as a detailed 鈥渄rapery study鈥� rendered by Menzel in luminous chalk on paper, and later destroyed with energetic gestures.
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