King David Playing the Harp, ca. 1616, extended in the late 1640s (Inv. No. 1043)

"King David Playing the Harp” by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Boeckhorst has numbered among the outstanding examples of Flemish Baroque painting in the Städel Museum since 1867. It also illustrates the current workshop practice of those years for only part of the work is by Rubens’s hand: the head was painted by him as a study on a small panel in 1616. It was only after his death that Boeckhorst, a former member of his workshop, extended the "tronje” by two boards, transforming it into King David’s full portrait.

The exhibition explores Rubens’s use of the "tronje” and elucidates its extension by Boeckhorst who not only left Rubens’s head "uncrowned” but completely untouched.

The presentation also documents the contemporary reception of Boeckhorst’s "David.” As a further example for a study head by Rubens, a loan from a private collection, which was equally offered at the Antwerp art market after a similar extension, provides the visitor with an additional point of reference.

Curator: Dr. Agnes Tieze (Städel Museum)

Supported by: Schering Stiftung

The exhibition in the Cupola Hall groups works dating from the foundation years of the Städelsches Kulturinstitut and the following years so decisive for its collection strategy to the late 19th century. Based on the concept of "Images of Dispute” – the presentation on the beginnings of the Städel in the hallway and on the stairs – the focused show provides insights into the various tendencies in art at that time: the range of works spans from the Nazarenes’ art inspired by Christian subjects to historical, landscape and Städel Museum« genre painting, in which the new interest in national history, nature, and everyday life becomes manifest.

The shown examples by Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Louis Gallait, Carl Friedrich Lessing, and Jacob Becker not only reveal the various artistic and academic 19th-century trends but also the contemporary German public’s expectations.

Curator: Dr. Sabine Schulze (Städel Museum)

The Städel is assembling a comprehensive exhibition of more than seventy masterpieces by Lucas Cranach, the great Reformation painter, from all the important international and national museums and collections.

More popular and even more successful economically than his contemporary Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach has probably had the most enduring influence on Germany’s visual world. He breathed completely new life into religious themes. His specialty, however, were perfectly rendered erotic paintings. In them he created a timeless ideal of female beauty that continued to speak to twentieth-century artists from Picasso to Giacometti.

This exhibition will attempt both to present a high-quality cross section of Cranach’s powerful oeuvre and to come closer to the secret of his success.

Curator: Dr. Bodo Brinkmann (Städel Museum)

Additional venue: Royal Academy of Arts, London, 12 March to 8 June 2008

Supported by: Commerzbank Stiftung and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co

With additional support from: Fraport AG, Fazit-Stiftung, Alnatura Produktions- und Handels GmbH

A 15th-Century Dialogue Works from the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt in the context of the Städel Museum’s collection.

The two panels of a Passion altar from the Middle Rhine dating from about 1440, which are part of the collection of the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt and provided the "Master of the Darmstadt Passion” with his "notnamen,” may be regarded as classic examples of the impact of art in the Netherlands on German painting in the first half of the 15th century.

In addition to further works by the "Master of the Darmstadt Passion,” the "Master of Grossgmain,” and the "Master of the Virgin at Covarrubias,” these panels are part of the thematic presentation "The Netherlands and Germany: A 15th-Century Dialogue,” which illustrates this influence in the Städel Museum’s hall dedicated to early Dutch painting.

With the "Flémalle Panels” by the "Master of Flémalle” named after them or Jan van Eyck’s "Lucca Madonna,” the Städel’s famous collection of early Dutch works offers a series of extraordinary comparable objects which convincingly substantiate the postulated context.

Curator: Dr. Bodo Brinkmann (The Städel Museum)

Prints from the Collection of the Städel Museum

For Albrecht Dürer prints were a medium in which he, more so than in painting and drawing, could make his innovative artistic work known to an audience across Europe. The Städel owns an extensive and valuable collection of Dürer’s engravings, woodcuts, and etchings, which for reasons of conservation cannot be permanently on exhibit. It was last shown more than thirty years ago.

This exhibition will include all his major works and a representative survey of Dürer’s development as a printmaker and of the significance of his works for the technical and artistic evolution of engraving and woodcuts around 1500.

Curator: Dr. Martin Sonnabend (Städel Museum)

Works by Graduates of the Städelschule

Entirely in compliance with Johann Friedrich Städel and his idea of combining collecting and teaching, the Städel Museum and the Städelschule combine their efforts for the final presentation of the academy’s graduates.

The fifth event of this still young tradition will present the most recent works of graduates from Städel Museum the classes of Christa Näher, Willem de Rooij, Michael Krebber, Mark Leckey, Simon Starling, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Tobias Rehberger in the exhibition building.

Supported by: Allen & Overy LLP, Frankfurt

"Das Wunder des Sehens."
Frankfurter Neue Presse, 2. Juni 2007

The original goal of the Stiftung des Städelschen Kunstinstituts, the combination of collecting and teaching, was revived in 2005 with the Max-Beckmann-Stiftung professorship.

The South African artist William Kentridge, who is famous worldwide for his animated films, was appointed the first Beckmann-Stiftung professor. An interest in optical phenomena and playing with illusion runs like a thread through his oeuvre. For the exhibition in the Städel Museum, which will end his association with the Städelschule, Kentridge will select old masterworks from the Department of Prints and Drawings that address similar questions, like Dürer’s proportion studies or Baroque designs for ceiling frescoes. In a new work Kentridge will once again put our perceptions to the test.

Curator: Dr. Sabine Schulze (Städel Museum)

Supported by: Atlanta AG

From Gerhard Richter to Carsten Nicolai

Constellations II offers a survey of the paintings, sculptures, installations, and works on paper from the second half of the twentieth century in the collection of the Städel Museum.

Curators: Max Hollein, Dr. Sabine Schulze, and Dr. Jutta Schütt (Städel Museum)

Life, which measures just a little less than three by three meters of width, is the largest and most motivically elaborate tapestry by the German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Against the background of simple rural life in the Swiss Alps, Kirchner formulated the motif of a worldview that contrasted rural and urban dwellers, allowing biographical elements into his work. This tapestry was hand-woven based on Kirchner’s designs by the weaver Lise Gujer; the idea and commission came from the collector and patron Carl Hagemann.

The exhibition draws attention to this outstanding work by Kirchner and details the awarding of the commission, the development of the work, the process of producing it, and its provenance prior to reaching the Städel in 1966.

Curator: Dr. Eva Mongi-Vollmer (Städel Museum)

Supported by: Schering Stiftung

The occasion of this exhibition is a generous loan from the Kirchner Museum in Davos: the bust Head of the Kneeling Woman of 1914 temporarily returns to the Städel Museum, having been removed from the museum in 1937, when Lehmbruck was still alive, as part of the National Socialist confiscation campaign. The exhibition built around this work, together with other works from the Städel and several other loans, directs the viewers attention to an aspect of Lehmbruck’s oeuvre that has thus far received little attention: the subtle and highly differentiated work with partial casts in various materials. The comparison of the full figures and partially casts in the work of the great German sculptor of the early twentieth century makes us aware of the influence that artistic decision - a certain detail, a special material - can have on the perception of art.

Curator: Dr. Eva Mongi-Vollmer (Städel Museum)

Childish laughter, rosy cheeks, eyes sparkling with the joy of life – the thought of children triggers many associations. A happy, fulfi lled childhood is one of our most treasured memories and we always want it for our own children, as well. But when did people begin to regard children as distinctive personalities in a separate phase of life?

The development of children’s portraits in the 18th century – in England initially, but soon spreading to the Continent – sheds light on changing perceptions of childhood. For a long time, children were seen primarily as the guarantee of a family’s continuity: stiffly dressed, they pose consciously for the viewer, while pillars and precious attributes document their elevated social status. Coats of arms or stately-homes visible in the background underline the fact that a dynasty’s future rests on their slender shoulders. This state of aff airs altered fundamentally during the 18th century. Writings by John Locke (1632–1704), read all over Europe, and later by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) formulated a new image of childhood. It came to be seen as an important phase in life, during which children – with a little careful guidance from adults – developed independently, thus shaping their own personalities.

A painting recently acquired for the Städel, th portrait of "Lord George Cavendish’s Children” by Th omas Lawrence provided the stimulus for this exhibition. It represents the new attitude towards children in an exemplary fashion, for these inquisitive children are exploring the countryside, unaccompanied by adults and thus left to their own devices. Their natural appearance is in perfect harmony with the unbridled natural growth around them. Lawrence observed children’s behaviour very carefully: the oldest boy William faces the viewer, looking serious and responsible, while his younger brother George cheerfully fl ourishes his hat. Both boys flank their little sister Anne, whose confi dent, impudent look betrays her role as a spoilt centre of the family. Using unrestrained, rapid brush-strokes, Lawrence captures not only the childlike features, but also the pathless landscape. Flowing contours, bright, fresh colours and the shimmering highlights heighten the impression of a momentary snapshot.

Anthony van Dyck is regarded as the founder of a new portrait painting in England, and so our exhibition begins with his children’s portraits. Although impressive pillars and precious materials still underline the representative character of these portrayals, Van Dyck already achieved a sensitive depiction of childlike charm. In the 18th century, Th omas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds followed in the footsteps of the admired role model. Th eir portraits of children often show young personalities in a natural setting that recalls the English landscape gardens which were being developed at that time.

Curator: Dr. Mirjam Neumeister (Städel Museum)

Additional venue: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 1 August to 4 November 2007

Supported by: American Express Foundation

With additional support from: Stanley Thomas Foundation

This exhibition centers on the painting Zwei Hexen (Two witches) by the great painter and printmaker of the German Renaissance, Hans Baldung Grien, and flanks it with his drawings and woodcuts, including depictions of women—from the first mother, Eve, to contemporaneous witches—that are at times quite risqué. Baldung’s female nudes were not simply breaches of contemporary taboos, they also reflected in an unusually clear way on the erotic power of women. An unusually intellectual painter, Baldung also treated such themes as contemporary views of witches, and one painting even refers to a then very serious problem for love: syphilis.

"The Genesis of German Panel Painting"

Unique opportunities to compare and contrast masterpieces from the two museums will reveal fresh viewing contexts and sharpen the perception of selected aspects. This four-year project not only offers a series art historical highlights, it also represents an essential component of the Städel Museum’s overall concept, which focuses on the mediation and contextualisation of the collection.

As from 11th October, the presentation on the origins of German panel painting will be continued with "The Netherlands and Germany: A Dialogue in the 15th Century”. Taking place in the Department of Early Dutch Painting and Sculpture at the Städel Museum, this exhibit will illustrate the Dutch influence on German master painters during that period.