Romantics, Realists, Revolutionaries: Masterpieces of 19th-Century German Painting from the Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig (Art & Design)
Peter C. Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which sponsored the show for which this book serves as catalog, notes that nearly one-fifth of Texas residents claim German ancestry and that 19th-century German art had a significant influence on American art. Yet until now there has never been a major exhibit on this art in the state. Drawn from the holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig, Houston's sister city, the 84 examples given here are presented chronologically. The artists most represented are Max Klinger, Adrian Ludwig Richter, Philipp Otto Runge, and Caspar David Friedrich. An introductory essay called "Diversity Within Unity?" by Helmut B rsch-Supan (Caspar David Friedrich) explains the importance of regional centers such as Dusseldorf, Munich, Berlin, and Dresden and the critical roles of Rome and Paris as study destinations. B rsch-Supan joins with five other specialists to analyze the artworks and to discuss influences such as the Italian and German Renaissance on the Nazarenes, the Gothic period on the Romantics, and Dutch genre and landscape painting, Neoclassicism, Academic art, French Realism, Impressionism, and Symbolism on the evolving German styles. This fine introduction to the topic is recommended for academic libraries. Anne Marie Lane, American Heritage Ctr., Univ. of Wyoming, LaramieCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.