What happened on Sunday in the Museum Barberini in Potsdam is no longer unknown – shocked when you look at it, but not necessarily less: an activist and an activist from the protest group “Last Generation” soiled a painting by Claude Monet from the series “Les Meules” ( Heuschober, 1889-1891) with a yellow liquid to persuade politicians to take tougher action on climate protection. The work hangs in the museum’s permanent exhibition and comes from the collection of the donor and multi-billionaire Hasso Plattner.
The museum has now announced that it will be closed until the end of the week. Museum director Ortrud Westheider told the German Press Agency (dpa) that they wanted to communicate with the lenders of the exhibition. The hope is to be able to open again next Monday, Reformation Day.
Hasso Plattner: Exhibitions in danger
Museum founder and art patron Hasso Plattner said: “During this time we will consider how we can increase security.” The Museum Barberini will contact all lenders immediately. Because the Museum Barberini has been showing a surrealism exhibition since Saturday, with items on loan from 50 museums and private collections. “We’ll have to wait and see how the lenders feel about this and what security measures they require from us,” Plattner continued.
In view of the ongoing attacks by climate activists in museums around the world, Plattner even sees the danger that it will become “more difficult if not impossible” to convince lenders for exhibitions in the Museum Barberini. This means that there is also a risk that exhibitions will no longer be possible beyond the permanent exhibition with around 100 works from the private collection.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Claude Monet: Grainstacks
Claude Monet’s atmospheric “Grainstack” from the Hasso Plattner collection. At the end of the 19th century, Monet (1840-1926) developed his serial process with the haystacks, which he later continued with his water lily paintings – a turning point in his work. The work is one of the highlights of Plattner’s loan to the Museum Barberini.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Alfred Sisley: Snow in Louveciennes
Winter landscapes were a specialty of the English painter Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) who lived in France. He skillfully gave expression to the desolation and desolation of nature. Snowy landscapes in general were among the favorite motifs of the Impressionists. Here they were able to reproduce the changing light with a nuanced color palette.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Claude Monet: Villas in Bordighera
During a stay in Italy in 1884, Monet discovered the Mediterranean Sea. Then he painted this colorful work – as a homage to a garden that shines in the Mediterranean light. The painter was enthusiastic about both. And in doing so, did credit to the Impressionists, who above all tried to capture the moment.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Claude Monet: The Port of Le Havre in the Evening
The work is one of Monet’s most stylistically radical works of the early 1870s. With swift brushstrokes, Monet captures the blurred shapes of the electric-lit industrial port at night. A shock for the critics, as the thick dabs of paint and visible brushstrokes with their sketchiness contradicted the trendy, academic painting style.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Gustave Caillebotte: Rue Halévy, view from the sixth floor
The view falls deep down into a busy street canyon. The proud houses of Rue Halévy are bathed in a diffuse yet coldly radiant winter light. The boulevards of Paris were a popular subject for the Impressionists, including Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894). His work was created in 1878.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Raoul Dufy: On the beach at Sainte-adresse
The French painter and draftsman Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) was initially influenced by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gaugin and the Impressionists before turning to Fauvism. The Sainte-adresse beach scene was created in 1906 and dates from Dufy’s Impressionist phase. When you look at it, you can really feel the freshness of the sea. A warm light illuminates the scenery.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Camille Pissarro: Hoarfrost, a young peasant woman makes a fire
A young peasant woman and a child light a fire from sticks and thin branches. Dense smoke rises, indicating the moisture in the firewood. The meadow where the cows graze is covered with hoarfrost. Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) was one of the most important and prolific Impressionist painters. But it was only towards the end of his career that he found his audience.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Gustave Caillebotte: The Bridge of Argenteuil and the Seine
The Argenteuil bridge spans the Seine. Below you can see the shipping traffic and houses on the opposite bank. A photographer would probably have chosen the same perspective. But Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) also proved to be a careful observer. This and other works from Hasso Plattner’s Impressionist collection can now be admired in the Museum Barberini.
-
The Plattner Collection in the Museum Barberini
Hasso Plattner: A passionate collector
With passion and an understanding of art, the art and science patron has assembled a collection worth millions. He made his fortune as the founder and partner of the software company SAP. He is now leaving around 100 Impressionist works to the Barberini Art Museum in Potsdam, which he founded. A Europe-wide significant Impressionism hotspot is emerging there.
Author: Stefan Dege
Just over a week ago, environmental activists threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” (1888) in the National Gallery in London and demanded that Britain stop new oil and gas projects. The frame was slightly damaged during the action.
The actions of the young climate activists of the “last generation” have been going on for months now. Again and again they stick themselves to famous works of art in order to persuade politicians to take more consistent action when it comes to climate protection. In August, two activists glued themselves to a work by Lucas Cranach the Elder in the Berlin Picture Gallery and to the world-famous “Sistine Madonna” by Raphael in Dresden. There were similar actions in Florence and London, among others.
This is the updated version of a report from 10/23/2022.
bb/fab (dpa)
Source: DW
