Albertinum: Dreams of Freedom. Romanticism in Russia and Germany

Alexej Wenezianow, Bei der Ernte. Sommer, Mitte 1820er Jahre

Dreams of Freedom

Romanticism in Russia and Germany

“Dreams of Freedom” focuses on the Crisis of the Subject in the early nineteenth century and the struggle for freedom that accompanied it. Libertarian ideas stemming from the French Revolution were spreading across Europe, while at the same time Napoleon was engulfing the continent in war. The conservative governments in Russia and the German states sought to restrict civil rights.

Exhibition Site Albertinum

DATES 02/10/2021—06/02/2022

Träume von Freiheit. Romantik in Russland und Deutschland | Albertinum Dresden

The artists of the Romantic period responded to this time of upheaval with an artistic universe that was dominated by emotions and rife with revolutionary potential. Their dreams of freedom combined artistic individualism with utopian social ideologies. Thanks to close cooperation between the Albertinum of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, paintings from the Romantic period from both collections are being exhibited together for the first time, thus highlighting a connection within Europe that has so far been largely overlooked.

**Silvester Schtschedrin, Grotta di Matromania auf Capri, 1827** Öl auf Leinwand, 35,7 × 46,4 cm

**Orest Adamowitsch Kiprenski, Bildnis von V.A. Schukowsky, 1816** Öl auf Leinwand

**Anton Iwanow-Goluboi, Die Insel Walaam bei Sonnenuntergang, 1845** Öl auf Leinwand, 61 × 91,3 cm

**Carl Gustav Carus, Brandung bei Rügen, 1819** Öl auf Leinwand, 645 x 935 mm

**Caspar David Friedrich, Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes, 1819/20** Öl auf Leinwand, 33 x 44,5 cm

At the heart of the exhibition are paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, Alexei Venetsianov, Carl Gustav Carus and Alexander Ivanov, who are among the outstanding artists of the Romantic period in Russia and Germany. Themes such as nocturnal landscapes, the yearning for Italy, religion, and the freedom of art, are grouped around them. The exhibition “Dreams of Freedom” presents more than 140 paintings from the Romantic period, mainly from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Albertinum in Dresden, as well as other Russian and German museums. In addition, there are documents and objects connected with the lives of the artists and other historical personages.

Also on show are international idioms of contemporary art which demonstrate the continuing impact of Romanticism and the themes associated with it: the question of the subject, the desire for a self-determined, free life, and security in a homeland of one’s own choosing, but also the threats posed by wars, and the power of the striving for emancipation.

**Ausstellungsansichten "Träume von Freiheit. Romantik in Russland und Deutschland"**

The layout of the exhibition, with its labyrinthine and non-linear structure, was designed by the American architect Daniel Libeskind. The floor plan consists of two folded and interwoven lines, and sections cut out of the walls create visual links revealing the topographical connection between Dresden and Moscow.