The Height of Romanticism
Visitors can easily spend a full day browsing the enormous collection of the Kunsthalle. The permanent collection is divided into several categories, including Old Masters, 19th Century and Modern Art. The Galerie der Gegenwart displays art from the 1960s and onwards. The exhibition of Old Masters showcases religious art and North German works from the 14th century. The gallery also displays religious works by famous Dutch and Flemish painters such as Rembrandt, Van Ruisdael and Rubens. The exhibit of 19th-century art includes famous works by well-known German painters such as Philipp Otto Runge and Max Liebermann. The collection also includes 14 outstanding works by Caspar David Friedrich, including 'Das Eismeer' and 'Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer'. These works transport the viewer to powerful landscapes that evoke loneliness, a typical theme of that period. These intense paintings embody the height of the Romantic Movement.
Modern masters
The Kunsthalle’s modern art collection is one of the largest and most important in Germany. It includes works from the period 1900 to 1960 by famous modernist artists such as Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Kirchner and Paul Klee. The works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch include a version of his Madonna and several paintings of 3 girls on a bridge. Picasso’s early cubist works hang next to paintings by German masters such as August Macke. The collection also displays some impressive works by Max Beckmann – look in particular for his painting ‘Ulysses und Calipso’.