The Städel Museum presents the painting of Impressionism and Realism and celebrates a brilliant rediscovery with Carl Schuch. Arguably the most famous “unknown” of the late 19th century, Schuch was largely overlooked by the public during his lifetime. His work gained considerable attention from critics, museums, and collectors after his death—only to be forgotten again. United with major works of French art by Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet, and Claude Monet, the exhibition brings the fascination of Schuch’s painting vividly to life.
About the Exhibition
The exhibition focuses on Schuch’s years in Paris. A restless cosmopolitan, he settled in the metropolis in 1882 and experienced the most productive phase of his artistic career there.
To this day, Carl Schuch is known only to a few, yet his paintings are a feast for the senses, with their captivating interplay of light and colour. We invite our visitors to experience the fascination of Schuch in Frankfurt through encounters with outstanding paintings of French Realism and Impressionism by Courbet, Manet and Cézanne.
Carl Schuch (1846–1903)
Still Life with Apples, Pears, and a Carafe, c. 1888
Edouard Manet (1832–1883)
Flowers in a Crystal Vase, c. 1882
Carl Schuch (1846–1903)
Parisian Houses, 1871/72
Wilhelm Leibl (1844–1900)
The Painter Carl Schuch, 1876
Carl Schuch (1846–1903)
The Rhododendron Basket, 1885/86
Edouard Manet (1832–1883)
Asparagus bunches, 1880
Paul Cézanne (1839–1906)
Still Life with Fruit Bowl, Apples and Bread, 1879/80
Carl Schuch translated his sensory impressions into “pure painting” characterized by subtle tonal gradations and sonorous colour harmonies. While plein air painting was his focus in the summer, still life was his main area of experimentation in the studio. To explore different colour effects, he varied a fixed repertoire of motifs in ever new constellations. He was interested in complementary contrasts and the way colours change through light and shadow, as well as colour mixtures and new colourants. Schuch repeatedly transferred the outstanding painting technique he had tried and tested in still lifes to his landscape paintings.
Schuch intensively studied the work of his role models—in addition to his German colleagues, such as Wilhelm Trübner and Wilhelm Leibl, he was particularly interested in his French contemporaries. The latest art technological investigations by the Städel Museum offer exciting insights into the creation of his paintings. Schuch’s free use of colour and his unmistakable signature style make his paintings a genuine discovery.
Curators
Alexander Eiling (Head of Modern Art, Städel Museum)
Juliane Betz (Deputy Head of Modern Art, Städel Museum)
Neela Struck (Associate Curator, Modern Art, Städel Museum)
In collaboration with Dr Roland Dorn (author of the Carl Schuch catalogue raisonné)
Sponsors & Patrons
Sponsored by
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe with Deutsche Leasing AG, Frankfurter Sparkasse & Sparkassen-Kulturfonds of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association, Fontana Foundation, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain gGmbH, Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V. with the Städelfreunde 1815
Media Partners
Süddeutsche Zeitung, ARTE, Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main
