Views on Europe: Europe and German Painting in the Nineteenth Century

by Ulrich Bischoff, Wolfgang Cortjaens

Views of Europe collects not just the literal views that its title suggests, but perspectives on German and European painting. It juxtaposes the works of German masters of the nineteenth century--Caspar David Friedrich, Adolph Menzel, Max Liebermann--with painters of similar interests and stature from abroad, pointing up the interactions between nineteenth-century artistic production in Germany and throughout the continent. Areas of influence catalogued here include Italy, whose atmosphere inspired Karl Blechen, Arnold Bocklin and Oswald Achenbach; northern Europe, through the Academy in Copenhagen and the discovery of Nordic myths in paintings by Philipp Otto Runge and Caspar David Friedrich; Switzerland and Austria, whose mountainous regions evoke both freedom and the romantic cult of nature; and Belgium, England, France, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands. With 150 masterpieces from 20 major German collections.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2007