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19th Century German and Austrian Painting

This collection is based on the estate of the big businessman Heinrich Liebieg (1839–1904), a generous patron, collector, and member of the honorary board of trustees of the North Bohemia Industrial Museum. In the course of the years, this unique private collection was expanded by acquisitions from the city of Liberec (from the sources of the Liebieg foundation), the Liberec Museum, and, since 1953, the Liberec Regional Gallery.

The paintings of the German artists represent an overview of the German visual art development tendencies in the second half of the 19th century. Artists studying or painting in Munich form the largest part. Paintings by Max Haushoffer represent the Early Munich en plain air painting. Rare figural-subject paintings by the Realist Wilhelm Leibl are complemented with works by painters of the “Leibl Group" (Wilhelm Trübner, Johannes Sperl). The Munich Biedermeier genre is represented by Carl Spitzweg, the psychological genre by Gabriel Max and Albert Keller, the peasant genre represented by works of Franz Defregger and Ernst Karl Georg Zimmermann, and the modern animal genre by Heinrich Zügel. In the portrait art the works of Franz Lenbach are dominant. The art colony in Dachau is represented by the Art Nouveau landscape paintings by Ludwig Dill; works of Andreas Achenbach, August Becker, and Hugo Vögelthe represent the Düsseldorf School. From artists working in Berlin, Adolf Menzel (called the "Eye of Europe"), Carl Langhammer, and Walter Leistikow stand out.

The Austrian painting is represented by large collections of several artists. The most extensive one contains works by August Pettenkofen and Eduard Charlemont, who, among others, counseled Heinrich Liebieg on what works of art to purchase; also Eugen Jettel, Rudolf Alt, and the multi-subject oriented Franz Rumpler. August Pettenkofen was one of the founders of “Mood Impressionism“. Its prominent representatives included Eugen Jettel and Franz Rumpler. Eduard Charlemont documents the periodical interest in the old, especially Dutch masters and in the genre painting which is characterized by rich colors and preciseness of the drawing. He participated in the wall paintings in the Burgtheater in Vienna. Paying attention to detail, Rudolf Alt realistically portrays panorama of European towns as well as of individual buildings.

Due to a lack of space, the works from the collection of the 19th century German and Austrian painters are not included in the permanent exhibition. In the years1978-1990, selected paintings were lent to the state Sychrov Castle. Since 1997, the Liberec Regional Gallery has placed these works on display several times as a part of the temporary exhibition.