UP
The
REMEN
DI ENJOYING SCHMALZKUCHEN AT THE ACHTSMARKT .
ING THE IMPRESSIVE DRAWINGS BY USE-LAUTREC COLLECTED BY ALFRED EL . by Carol Harbers
gray and snowy morning was filled with excitement as we boarded the train for Hansestadt Bremen . A mere 120 kilometers from Hamburg , Bremen is a jewel of a city that is a long-standing competitor with Hamburg — vying both for successful shipping strategies in their seaports and winning goals for their soccer teams .
We were off to tour an exhibition honoring the twohundredth birthday of the art association which founded the Bremen Kunsthalle , the main art museum of Bremen . The exhibition , Celebration : Monet to van Gogh , focuses on the period at the beginning of the twentieth century when the Bremen Kunsthalle ‘ s director shook the establishment by collecting Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works and , in the end , making it a leading museum in modern Germany .
We were mesmerized by our excellent tour guide as she outlined the cultural and artistic norms at the end of the nineteenth century , as Europe experienced an economic boom . Fighting against the status quo , Gustav Pauli , the Kunsthalle ’ s first academic director ( 1899-1914 ), slowly changed its acquisition policy , departing from the popular Realist movement and embracing the new Impressionist movement of the day . Other German museums followed suit , acquiring many of the first French Impressionist paintings exhibited in museums . Many of these paintings , on loan by museums in Berlin , Hamburg , Frankfurt , and Weimar , are displayed chronologically in the exhibition — highlighting the trends and transitioning from Impressionism to Post- Impressionism . Despite the growing reception of these paintings , the purchase of Vincent van Gogh ’ s Field of
Poppies in 1911 by the Bremen Kunsthalle triggered a huge scandal throughout Germany , inconceivable today .
The courageous acquisition profile of the director Gustav Pauli was supported by Bremen merchants , who soon also began to acquire French paintings for their private homes . Many of these are on display in the exhibition , juxtaposed with photographs of the private parlors and studies where the masterpieces once hung . Indeed , the understatedly elegant rooms transferred a sense of respectability to the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec , which were often considered degenerate at the time .
Still stimulated from the tour , we walked to Bremen ’ s old town with its historic town hall ( Rathaus ) and Roland statue , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . We enjoyed a typical wintery Mittagsessen ( including the Bremen specialties Braunkohl und Pinkel ) at the historic Ratskeller Restaurant and admired the whimsical Bremer Stadtmusikanten , before wandering through the Christmas markets flanking the historic square .
The train trip back was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances , but time passed quickly as we reviewed the lovely art tour ( thanks to wonderful photos and commentary from Susan ) and stimulating conversation . A big thanks to Holly Todd for organizing a wonderful day for us !
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