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RUSSIA
Hermitage St Petersburg
Tretyakov Gallery Moscow
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
ART GALLERIES IN USA
Best Art Museums in America.
APPRECIATING PAINTING
Before visiting the
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, see:
Art Evaluation: How to Appreciate Art.
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History
In 1824 Ferdinand Franz Wallraf, a Cologne canon and professor bequeathed
his extensive art collection to the city. In 1854 another local wealthy
citizen, JH Richartz donated enough money to buy a building suitable for
housing the collection. In 1943 the museum was destroyed during a bombing
raid, but fortunately most of the collection was saved. Subsequently it
was re-housed several times, but in 2001 it found a permanent home in
its present location at Obenmarspforten. The new sleek modern building
was designed by local award winning architect Mathias Ungers (1926-2007).
Permanent Collection
The exhibits, comprising several different types
of art, are divided into three main categories which are split between
levels within the museum. The lowest level displays paintings from the
Middle Ages, notably panel paintings
from the Cologne School
of painting (1350-1550). The second level of the museum displays Renaissance
art along with works from the Baroque
era, while the third level is dedicated to 19th century paintings and
sculpture. Among the many precious works owned by the museum, is the illuminated
Book of Hours of Sophia von Bylant (1475) which contains illustration
by the Cologne Master of the Bartholomew Altar, who despite his anonymity,
is one of the most famous artists of the early German
Renaissance period.
Important Paintings
• Madonna of the Rose Bush (1440-2) by Stefan Lochner.
Considered a late Gothic-Painter, Lochner painted with brilliant colours
and displayed a Flemish attention to detail and realism.
• Piper and Drummer (c.1503) by Albrecht
Durer.
Leading figure of the German Renaissance.
• Juno and Argus (c.1610) by Peter
Paul Rubens.
Foremost painter of the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
• Self-Portrait (c.1668) by Rembrandt
van Rijn.
Arguably the greatest portraitist in the history of art.
• Resting Girl (Marie-Louise O'Murphy) (1751) by Francois
Boucher.
Rococo artist known for his voluptuous paintings.
• The Couple (Les Fiances) (c.1868) by Impressionist Renoir.
Master of landscape, portraiture and voluptuous plein-air female nudes.
• The Bleaching Ground (1882) by Max
Liebermann.
German Impressionist painter.
• The Drawbridge (1888) by Vincent van Gogh.
Pioneer expressionist painter.
• Capo di Noli (1898) by Paul
Signac.
French Neo-Impressionist who helped to develop the pointillism.
• Girls on a Pier (1905) by Edvard
Munch.
Norwegian Symbolist printmaker and painter.
• Water Lilies (Nympheas) (c.1915/17) by Claude
Monet.
Leader of French Impressionism.
Graphics Collection
The museum has over 75,000 pieces in their Graphic collection, the origins
of which can be traced back to the mid 16th century. It includes collections
of drawing, mediaeval miniatures, watercolours,
as well as sketch books and portfolios from various artists including:
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519);
the Mannerist painters Andrea del Sarto (1486-1531) and Pontormo (1494–1557);
the Dutch master of etching and drypoint Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69);
pioneer of the Romantic movement Theodore
Gericault (1791-1824); Neo-classicist J.A.D. Ingres (1780-1867), and
the Belgian symbolist James
Ensor (1860-1949); as well as, Munch, Liebermann and Lovis Corinth.
For those who wish to see specific works in the collection, the museum
can arrange this by appointment.
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