Max Liebermann - Drawings from the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett
luminous, atmospherically captured garden and forest landscapes, sunny riders on the beach, captivating portraits and children at play. In its fall exhibition, the mpk presents the brilliant graphic work of Max Liebermann (1847-1935).
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Many people know the master of German Impressionism primarily through his paintings. Now the full range of his drawings can be discovered at the mpk. At the center of the exhibition are over 50 precious loans from the renowned Berlin Kupferstichkabinett. The Kupferstichkabinett holds the largest and highest-quality collection of preparatory drawings and studies, portraits, landscapes and depictions of animals by this exceptional and much-honored talent.
Many of Liebermann’s drawings were on display around two years ago in the Berlin exhibition “Liebermann Draws”. Now they are being presented to the public in Rhineland-Palatinate for the first time in a new collection. As works of art on paper are very sensitive to light, the drawings will not be able to be shown in Kaiserslautern for many years immediately after the exhibition. For all friends and lovers of Max Liebermann, this exhibition is therefore the last opportunity for the time being to look over the shoulder of the great German Impressionist so intensively. An opportunity not to be missed.
Max Liebermann himself saw drawing as the “first record of artistic intuition”, which concentrated on the essentials. Together with paintings and prints from the mpk collection, the special exhibition offers unique insights into Liebermann’s working methods and his stylistic diversity. It is enriched by original film and sound recordings from the 1920s, which show Liebermann drawing and in which the artist talks about his life. The exhibition also commemorates the fate of Martha Liebermann (1857-1943): In order to escape deportation to an extermination camp, the persecuted Jew committed suicide.
Throughout their lives, the Liebermanns were great nature lovers. From 1910, the family lived regularly in their legendary, magnificent villa on Wannsee. A video installation specially developed for the exhibition in Kaiserslautern transforms the blossoming garden into a sensory experience and invites visitors to the summer retreat on Wannsee amidst the seasons of autumn and winter.
Curated by Dr. Sören Fischer, based on the Berlin special exhibition “Liebermann Draws”, a cooperation between the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, the cultural foundation of the Berliner Sparkasse, at the Max Liebermann Haus (December 16, 2022 to March 5, 2023).
In cooperation with the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin