State of the Art Since 1560, at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden's Royal Palace | By Paula Weideger - WSJ.com
State of the Art Since 1560, at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden's Royal Palace | By Paula Weideger - WSJ.com
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Bernard Berenson are among the connoisseurs for whom Dresden was a city not to be missed. They were drawn by the abundance of treasures that now fill its 12 museums, collectively called the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD). These house exceptional collections of Old Master paintings, prints and drawings; extravagant Renaissance and Baroque jewels and jeweled objects; elaborate armor; opulent furniture; fantastical objets d'art and superb porcelain—Chinese, Japanese and early Meissen.
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Reuters
Inside Elector Augustus the Strong's Green Vault.
(This is the 300th anniversary of Meissen, Europe's first porcelain manufactory, founded by Elector August the Strong in 1710 and still in business. Among its most thrilling early products is the Elector's porcelain menagerie, which was reinstalled earlier this year by starchitect Peter Marino, but in the most inappropriate way: Groups of animals are perched on glitzy gold "rocks" capped by brightly colored circus tents. Works of art displayed as if they were rich kids' toys. Still Meissen's splendid creations, which survived far worse, will surely survive this.)
State of the Art Since 1560
Staatlische Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Through Nov. 7
"State of the Art Since 1560," an exhibition at Dresden's Royal Palace complex, is an enticing introduction to the variety of riches found steps (or a short walk) away. The almost 400 objects on view demonstrate that the Electors who ruled Saxony and amassed the collection were as interested in the natural world as in art and architecture. There is a telescope, a gyroscope and a lobster automaton that looks surrealist but was made in 1590 by Hans Schlottheim. The sumptuous furniture, clothing and objets d'art reflect the Electors' use of splendor to advertise and augment their power. Yet for all its treats, this show is only an amuse bouche. A great deal more, including most of Dresden's masterworks, is on permanent display nearby.
Elector Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) was a collector who added to his inheritance on a gargantuan scale, acquiring more than 30,000 pieces of Oriental and early Meissen porcelain, for example. As for jewels, the Historic Green Vault on the ground floor of the Royal Palace re-creates the elaborately gilded and mirrored rooms he designed to show off his objects and adornments. Here are the suites of jewels the Elector wore during the monthlong festival that celebrated his son's marriage. One is all diamonds; others are all emeralds or sapphires, rubies, coral or carnelian.
The original Green Vault is an intimate gallery. Visitor numbers, therefore, are restricted. To meet the needs of mass tourism, the spacious Modern Green Vault, upstairs in the palace, displays the objects "everybody" wants to see. Outstanding among these is the "Throne of the Moguls," depicting the Delhi birthday celebrations for the Grand Mogul Aurangzeb. Tens of small, individual jeweled and enameled figures stretch out below the Mogul, who sits high above them on his throne. There are Moors and Turks and Chinese. There are elephants, camels and horses, too. Carriages bear gifts; wide dishes are filled with gold and silver coins. The tableau was made by Augustus the Strong's court jeweler, Johann Melchior Dinglinger.
But hang on. Dresden was destroyed in World War II. How did all this survive? Because they weren't there. Two years earlier they had been hidden in hill fortresses, caves and quarries east of the city. The same hills, once rich in the silver ore and semiprecious gems that bankrolled the collecting passions of generations of Saxony's rulers, now protected the treasures that stupendous wealth bought. But as the war ended, specialist trophy-hunting Soviet troops swooped in. From Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" to the 41-carat Dresden green diamond, almost everything went to Russia "for safekeeping." In 1958, in a gesture of political solidarity with the East German government, much of it was returned.
After German reunification, an ambitious rebuilding and restoration program began. It accelerated in 2001 when Prof. Martin Roth was appointed director general of the SKD. In the autumn of the following year the reinstallation of the porcelain collection opened in a wing of the Zwinger Palace. Mud and mildew were reminders of the recent, unprecedented flood of the Elbe River that runs through Dresden. The Old Master picture gallery elsewhere in the Zwinger, famous for its Rembrandts and Vermeers, Titians and Veroneses, stored its pictures in the basement. As the river peaked, teams of volunteers just barely succeeded in removing the paintings before the space was submerged. A new, secure place in which to store the pictures went to the top of the list of future projects. It opened in June as part of the newly restored Albertinum. This $66.8 million project was kick-started by a Berlin art auction organized in response to the flood. Artists contributed works that raised almost $4.4 million.
The Albertinum combines a Renaissance and a 19th-century building connected by a covered courtyard. The older structure houses Dresden's Sculpture Collection; the more recent one, its New Masters Gallery. A cleverly conceived, two-story structure suspended from the courtyard's roof bridges the two. This "ark" devised by Volker Staab is Dresden's new painting depot.
Among the highlights of the Modern display are rooms devoted to Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz and A.R. Penck. There are moody paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, too. There are single works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin; only a handful from Die Brücke, even though it was based in Dresden. Hitler's brutal confiscation of the collection's "degenerate" art has left brutal scars. And with the city behind the Iron Curtain for decades, it missed out on donations from West Germans wanting to give prized works to museums. The social realist works it acquired instead are no compensation. Perhaps now this new, attractive Albertinum and the confidence shown in it by contemporary German art stars will attract gifts and put the gallery on the same high level as the rest of the SKD. But with or without a stellar sculpture museum or one for modern masters, Dresden shines as one of the great art capitals of the world.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Bernard Berenson are among the connoisseurs for whom Dresden was a city not to be missed. They were drawn by the abundance of treasures that now fill its 12 museums, collectively called the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD). These house exceptional collections of Old Master paintings, prints and drawings; extravagant Renaissance and Baroque jewels and jeweled objects; elaborate armor; opulent furniture; fantastical objets d'art and superb porcelain—Chinese, Japanese and early Meissen.
View Full Image
Reuters
Inside Elector Augustus the Strong's Green Vault.
(This is the 300th anniversary of Meissen, Europe's first porcelain manufactory, founded by Elector August the Strong in 1710 and still in business. Among its most thrilling early products is the Elector's porcelain menagerie, which was reinstalled earlier this year by starchitect Peter Marino, but in the most inappropriate way: Groups of animals are perched on glitzy gold "rocks" capped by brightly colored circus tents. Works of art displayed as if they were rich kids' toys. Still Meissen's splendid creations, which survived far worse, will surely survive this.)
State of the Art Since 1560
Staatlische Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Through Nov. 7
"State of the Art Since 1560," an exhibition at Dresden's Royal Palace complex, is an enticing introduction to the variety of riches found steps (or a short walk) away. The almost 400 objects on view demonstrate that the Electors who ruled Saxony and amassed the collection were as interested in the natural world as in art and architecture. There is a telescope, a gyroscope and a lobster automaton that looks surrealist but was made in 1590 by Hans Schlottheim. The sumptuous furniture, clothing and objets d'art reflect the Electors' use of splendor to advertise and augment their power. Yet for all its treats, this show is only an amuse bouche. A great deal more, including most of Dresden's masterworks, is on permanent display nearby.
Elector Augustus the Strong (1670-1733) was a collector who added to his inheritance on a gargantuan scale, acquiring more than 30,000 pieces of Oriental and early Meissen porcelain, for example. As for jewels, the Historic Green Vault on the ground floor of the Royal Palace re-creates the elaborately gilded and mirrored rooms he designed to show off his objects and adornments. Here are the suites of jewels the Elector wore during the monthlong festival that celebrated his son's marriage. One is all diamonds; others are all emeralds or sapphires, rubies, coral or carnelian.
The original Green Vault is an intimate gallery. Visitor numbers, therefore, are restricted. To meet the needs of mass tourism, the spacious Modern Green Vault, upstairs in the palace, displays the objects "everybody" wants to see. Outstanding among these is the "Throne of the Moguls," depicting the Delhi birthday celebrations for the Grand Mogul Aurangzeb. Tens of small, individual jeweled and enameled figures stretch out below the Mogul, who sits high above them on his throne. There are Moors and Turks and Chinese. There are elephants, camels and horses, too. Carriages bear gifts; wide dishes are filled with gold and silver coins. The tableau was made by Augustus the Strong's court jeweler, Johann Melchior Dinglinger.
But hang on. Dresden was destroyed in World War II. How did all this survive? Because they weren't there. Two years earlier they had been hidden in hill fortresses, caves and quarries east of the city. The same hills, once rich in the silver ore and semiprecious gems that bankrolled the collecting passions of generations of Saxony's rulers, now protected the treasures that stupendous wealth bought. But as the war ended, specialist trophy-hunting Soviet troops swooped in. From Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" to the 41-carat Dresden green diamond, almost everything went to Russia "for safekeeping." In 1958, in a gesture of political solidarity with the East German government, much of it was returned.
After German reunification, an ambitious rebuilding and restoration program began. It accelerated in 2001 when Prof. Martin Roth was appointed director general of the SKD. In the autumn of the following year the reinstallation of the porcelain collection opened in a wing of the Zwinger Palace. Mud and mildew were reminders of the recent, unprecedented flood of the Elbe River that runs through Dresden. The Old Master picture gallery elsewhere in the Zwinger, famous for its Rembrandts and Vermeers, Titians and Veroneses, stored its pictures in the basement. As the river peaked, teams of volunteers just barely succeeded in removing the paintings before the space was submerged. A new, secure place in which to store the pictures went to the top of the list of future projects. It opened in June as part of the newly restored Albertinum. This $66.8 million project was kick-started by a Berlin art auction organized in response to the flood. Artists contributed works that raised almost $4.4 million.
The Albertinum combines a Renaissance and a 19th-century building connected by a covered courtyard. The older structure houses Dresden's Sculpture Collection; the more recent one, its New Masters Gallery. A cleverly conceived, two-story structure suspended from the courtyard's roof bridges the two. This "ark" devised by Volker Staab is Dresden's new painting depot.
Among the highlights of the Modern display are rooms devoted to Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz and A.R. Penck. There are moody paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, too. There are single works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin; only a handful from Die Brücke, even though it was based in Dresden. Hitler's brutal confiscation of the collection's "degenerate" art has left brutal scars. And with the city behind the Iron Curtain for decades, it missed out on donations from West Germans wanting to give prized works to museums. The social realist works it acquired instead are no compensation. Perhaps now this new, attractive Albertinum and the confidence shown in it by contemporary German art stars will attract gifts and put the gallery on the same high level as the rest of the SKD. But with or without a stellar sculpture museum or one for modern masters, Dresden shines as one of the great art capitals of the world.
