Landscape in the mirror of the centuries
Using masterpieces from the collection of the Clemens-Sels-Museum Neuss, the exhibition was dedicated to a central pictorial theme of art, the landscape. The paintings, drawings and prints revealed in their diversity the characteristic forms and colors to which the artists were inspired. The selection ranged from the Dutch of the 17th century to the Symbolists and "Nabis" of the 19th century to the Expressionists and Modern Primitives of the 20th century.
The exhibition offered a representative glimpse into the unique collection and introduced further treasures of the house after 2012: There was a reunion with significant pieces, some of which had only rarely been shown, that had never been presented in this context before. These ranged from works by the Flemish and Dutch masters to the founder of the Düsseldorf School of Painting Johann Wilhelm Schirmer and paintings by Maurice Denis and Emil Orlik inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. The forward-looking nature of Expressionist interpretations was on display in works by Campendonk, Rohlfs and Nauen, as well as the unmistakable pictorial solutions of the Naives by Nikifor, Camille Bombois and Emma Stern. The exhibition offered a variety of insights that presented the artistic exploration of landscape and shed new light on the museum's collection.