T he long summer vacation is already over, but the wanderlust is crying out for a short trip away? Our suggestion: A city weekend trip with a visit to the museum, because Europe is literally exploding with exciting exhibitions like our six favorites:
BERLIN, OLD NATIONAL GALLERY
Wanderlust – From Caspar David Friedrich to Auguste Renoir
Hiking is only for the over 50 generation? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. Alpine hut tours or coastal hiking trails are developing into holiday destinations for trend athletes. But as early as the 19th century, hiking was considered a popular, decelerating leisure activity – and an equally popular art motif. The Old National Gallery on Berlin's Museum Island is showing over 100 works until mid-September to cover the entire spectrum of the subject: discovery of nature, journey through life, artist hikes, walks, longing Italy, hiking landscapes north of the Alps. The exhibition not only consists of works by German artists, but also shows pictures by Richard Wilson, Ivan Kramskoi and Auguste Renoir. Arguably the most famous wanderer in German art history should not be missing either, namely the one above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich – on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
May 10, 2018 to September 16, 2018
smb.museum
BUDAPEST, HUNGARIAN NATIONAL GALLERY
Frida Kahlo
Her pictures, especially her self-portraits, are simply a force in the original: vulnerability, pride, anger, beauty - paradoxically, they radiate all of this at once. But if the journey to your actual home in Mexico City is too far for you, you should definitely book a short trip to Budapest in autumn. Because in the Hungarian National Gallery, more than 30 paintings and other drawings by the Mexican are on display, which the Museo Dolores Olmedo has generously made available. Once there, it is worth taking a longer stroll through the entire museum, as the premises have an eventful history behind them. They are located in a wing of the Budavári palota, the castle palace, which has been enthroned above the Danube and housed the Hungarian kings since the 13th century. Its current neo-baroque form was created at the end of the 19th century. Szep - beautiful!
July 7 to November 4, 2018
mng.hu
EDINBURGH, SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY
Rembrandt - Britain's Discovery of the Master
The list of British artists who felt inspired by Rembrandt would be endless: William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, Henry Raeburn, David Wilkie, Jacob Epstein, John Bellany... Especially at the end of the 18th century, the enthusiasm of the British for the Dutchman was high from the Golden Age can hardly be stopped - both among artists and collectors. The Scottish National Gallery is devoting its new exhibition to the relationship between the British and Rembrandt. On the one hand, there are pictures by Rembrandt himself that have been hanging in British museums for a long time, such as the “Girl at the Window” or “Belshazzar's Feast”. These are now joined by works that were strongly influenced by him, including paintings by the artists mentioned above. If you're not completely exhausted afterwards, it's worth making a detour to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (about 30 minutes' walk), where works by Emil Nolde are also on display.
July 7 to October 14, 2018
nationalgalleries.org
PALMA DE MAJORCA, MIROÌ MAJORCA FUNDACIOÌ
Miró, a wild spirit
In 1956, the Spanish artist of the century, Joan Miró, settled in Palma de Mallorca, where he remained until his death in 1983. His former residence in Cala Mayor was later transformed into the Miró Mallorca FundacÃo, which is entirely dedicated to his work on the island. His original studio has been preserved, a sculpture garden has been designed and a museum opened. In the latter, until 2019, the exhibition "Miró, a wild spirit" is looking for the artist's roots and various inspirations, in short: for everything that influenced his works. Above all, this includes nature, be it on Mallorca or at his previous place of residence, the Catalan village of Mont-roig. But also oriental art, folk arts and crafts, Antoni Gaudà and contemporary poetry.
2018-2019
miromallorca.com
VIENNA, ART HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
It will soon be the 450th anniversary of the death of the Dutch painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. However, his pictures never seem outdated, but rather like a snapshot that has just been taken: countless people who were captured as if in the middle of the movement characterize his works, which are often reminiscent of hidden object pictures from children's books. The motifs vary greatly, because Bruegel was one of the few contemporaries to be interested in everyday scenes such as a wedding in an inn, ice skaters in a snowy landscape and children playing. But there is also something mystical to be found in his oeuvre, for example his monumental work on the Tower of Babel is very well known. Collectors from the House of Habsburg were interested in the artist's works very early on, so that today the most comprehensive collection of Bruegel's works hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. For the first monographic exhibition, however, the holdings will be supplemented by paintings from other museums or private collections.
October 2, 2018 to January 13, 2019
khm.at
THE HAGUE, COMMON MUSEUM
By the Sea
Today, Domburg in the province of Zeeland is practically the St. Peter Ording of the Netherlands: families, water sports enthusiasts and couples cavort on the long, wide beaches of the North Sea coast in summer, while thatched roof houses and mediocre ice cream parlors wait behind the coast. At the beginning of the 20th century, before Domburg was a holiday hotspot, the region attracted a completely different audience, artists of all stripes. Especially the Dutch trio Jan Tooro, Piet Mondriaan and Jacoba van Heemskerch couldn't get enough of the sparkling sea, the rolling dunes and the green hinterland. The Gemeentemuseum in The Hague brings together over 50 of her works in its exhibition, all of which show the area around Domburg. If you still need a reminder of the summer freshness in autumn, you've come to the right place!
July 14 to November 18, 2018
gemeentemuseum.nl