Max Liebermann sparked the first avant-garde movement in Germany with his impressionist paintings. As a collector and promoter of French Impressionism and as the president of the Berlin Secession, he brought a sense of internationalism to the art world in the nationally focused German Empire. Unlike France, with its undisputed art capital, Paris, art in Germany was influenced by many centers; aside from Berlin, Impressionism also developed in Dresden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart. The exhibition Impressionism in Germany: Max Liebermann and His Time explores the diversity of themes and styles between 1870 and 1930. It features not only canonized painters like Lovis Corinth, Max Liebermann, and Max Slevogt, but also lesser-known artists like Maria Slavona and Lesser Ury.

This expansive survey exhibition on German Impressionism brings together over 90 paintings from notable collections, including the Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Tate in London, Kunsthalle Mannheim, and Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

An exhibition of the Museum Barberini, Potsdam and The Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

The symposium is held in preparation for the exhibition that will be on view from October 3, 2025 to February 8, 2026 at the Museum Frieder Burda and at the Museum Barberini from February 28 to June 7, 2026.

The speakers will be:

• Dr. Alexander Bastek, Museum Behnhaus Drägerhaus, Lübeck
• Dr. Karoline Feulner, Landesmuseum Mainz
• Barbara Schaefer, Walraff-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne
• Prof. Dr. Lucy Wasensteiner, Universität Bonn
• Dr. Ortrud Westheider, Museum Barberini, Potsdam

Program (held in German):

10 a.m.
Welcome
Dr. Ortrud Westheider, Museum Barberini, Potsdam
Dr. Daniel Zamani, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

10:15 a.m.
Impressionism in Germany. The first avant-garde? 
Dr. Ortrud Westheider, Museum Barberini, Potsdam

11:15 a.m.
“The only way to help Impressionism triumph is to show masterpieces.” Max Liebermann and the Reception of French Impressionism in Germany
Barbara Schaefer, Walraff-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud, Köln

12:15 p.m.
Lunch break

2 p.m.
The late Max Liebermann. Painter, collector and mediator of Impressionism
Prof. Dr. Lucy Wasensteiner, Universität Bonn

3 p.m.
“The eye sees with the imagination, sees with music, rhythm and drunkenness”. The Impressionist Max Slevogt
Dr. Karoline Feulner, Landesmuseum Mainz

4 p.m.
Coffee break

4:30 p.m.
Stories of Everyday Life: Genre Painting in German Impressionism
Dr. Alexander Bastek, Museum Behnhaus Drägerhaus, Lübeck

5:30 p.m.
Reception