The Städel Museum in Frankfurt

Sandro Botticelli (1444/45-1510), Idealized Female Portrait

Saturday November 6th 2010 was  cold and rainy  in Frankfurt.  No day trip was planned so we decided to visit the train station (Bahnhof) as it appeared to be more than just a train terminus.  This railway complex houses a virtual shopping mall with a focus on gastronomic appeal.  After some time spent there and with a little encouraging Arendje agreed to visit another museum on the other side of the Maine River.   At first we thought it was closed as the Städel Museum is undergoing extensive renovations.  After the 65 million dollar face lift it promises to be one's of Germany's premier museums.  The Städel's  Museum which opened in 1817 has an extensive collection of art and sculpture built up by donations and bequests from the citizens of Frankfurt.  This city has always enjoyed an economically advantageous position as a banking and transport center.  Additionally, Frankfurt boasts a sophisticated  and highly literate population with liberal leanings. 
The present exhibit spans seven centuries of art from the 1300s  to the present day and follows a strictly chronological  presentation.  The result is a timeline illustrating the history of European paintings.  This unique approach provides a window into the transition of art forms  through the centuries

One of its more noted paintings”, Botticelli’s Idealised Portrait of a Lady represents the linear grace of early renaissance paintings.

The Städel  has a beautiful Renoir (After the Luncheon).  This is a prime example of his work.

The Städel has a practice of buying select pieces, rather than amassing a comprehensive collection of an artist’s work.   The Stadel is said to have begun collecting French  impressionist works before French Museums did.  In 1912, the museum made the daring purchase of Van Gogh’s portrait which is considered a transitional work that “marks the turning point from the art of the 19th century to the modern period”.  The Städel director, Georg Swarzenski’s purchase of French impressionist art in the first decade of the 20th century was controversial because some critics had yet to be convinced of the value of this nouveau art.  Many referred to his provocative purchases as a French “invasion”.

The most famous painting in all of Germany, Johann H. W. Tischbein’s portrait of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, can be seen most anywhere in Germany.  This idealised but life-size portrait of Goethe, painted in Rome in 1787, has been reproduced countless times,  Goethe represents the epitome of literary genius in Germany and his name is synonymous with  romantic ideals.

No one in German museum circles thinks the Tischbein represents good art — the artist gave Goethe two left feet and distorted proportions — but it is the symbol of Germany. Along with the Städel’s famed Botticelli, it is one of its must-see “destination” paintings.