Seeking Revelation: German Romantic Prints and Drawings

Exhibitions

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe the Elder (German, 1759–1835), Cow in the Reeds (Die Kuh im Schilfe), ca. 1800/03.

Etching. Plate: 11 15/16 × 16 1/2 in. (30.32 × 41.91 cm); sheet: 16 15/16 × 22 13/16 in. (43.02 × 57.94 cm). Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund M2001.171. Photo by John R. Glembin

Overview

  • June 19–November 1, 2026

  • Bradley Family Gallery

  • Free for Members

  • Included with admission

During the German Romantic movement, active from about 1770 to 1850, many artists hoped to gain a deeper understanding of universal questions. They experienced the French Revolution, France’s invasion of Germany during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), and a shift from the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason to more interest in emotion and feeling. Decades of changing borders and values led artists to reconsider their national identity and sense of self, as well as their relationship to nature and the divine.

Featuring 84 drawings, prints, and paintings that highlight the Milwaukee Art Museum’s German Romantic collection—one of the strongest in the country—the exhibition examines how artists attempted to comprehend and shape their world. They looked to the sublime beauty of the landscape, religious devotion, and travel to help them respond to the urgent issues of their time. Ultimately, even when it did not uncover answers, the process of seeking offered its own reward. The Romantics’ approach offers an example we can follow today as we live through our own unpredictable moment in history.

Selected artworks

Johann Christian Clausen Dahl (Norwegian, 1788–1857), Shipwreck on a Rocky Coast (Morning after a Stormy Night) (Norwegische Seeküste während eines Sturms), 1819.

Etching with drypoint on brown-gray paper. Plate: 4 9/16 × 5 7/8 in. (11.59 × 14.92 cm); sheet: 6 7/8 × 8 1/4 in. (17.46 × 20.96 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Karl Friedrich Schinkel (German, 1781–1841), A Gothic Cathedral behind Trees, 1810/15.

Pen and gray ink and watercolor over graphite on paper. Sheet: 9 11/16 × 8 15/16 in. (24.61 × 22.7 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Ferdinand Ruscheweyh (German, 1785–1846), after Peter von Cornelius (German, 1783–1867), published by Verlag Georg Reimer, Berlin (1816–1918), Vision at the Gallows (Erscheinung am Rabenstein), from Illustrations for Goethe’s Faust (Bilder zu Goethes Faust), 1814, published 1845.

Engraving, printed chine collé. 16 1/2 × 20 3/8 in. (41.91 × 51.75 cm); plate: 15 7/16 × 20 7/8 in. (39.21 × 53.02 cm); sheet: 24 11/16 × 30 7/8 in. (62.71 × 78.42 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund and with funds from the Ralph and Cora Oberndorfer Family Trust

Joseph Anton Koch (Austrian, 1768–1839), Landscape with Ruth and Boaz, 1823/25.

Oil on canvas. 33 1/4 × 43 1/4 in. (84.46 × 109.86 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund, by exchange. Photo by Larry Sanders

Ferdinand Olivier (German, 1785–1841), printed by Adolph Kunike (Austrian, 1777–1838), published by Ferdinand Olivier (German, 1785–1841), Tuesday: Salzburg Castle from the South (Dienstag. Bergvesste Salzburg von der Mittagsseite), from the series Seven Places in Salzburg and Berchtesgaden (Sieben Gegenden aus Salzburg und Berchtesgaden), 1818–22, published 1823.

Lithograph with tint stone and hand touching. 7 3/4 × 10 5/8 in. (19.69 × 26.99 cm); sheet: 14 1/8 × 20 in. (35.88 × 50.8 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Bequest. Photo by John R. Glembin

Franz Kobell (German, 1749–1822), Nocturnal Landscape with Two Figures, ca. 1807.

Pen and brown ink and wash over graphite on paper. Sheet: 13 5/8 × 9 3/16 in. (34.61 × 23.34 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund. Photo by John R. Glembin

Philipp Otto Runge (German, 1777–1810), etched by Johann Adolph Darnstedt (German, 1769–1844), etched by Ephraim Gottlieb Krüger (German, 1756–1834), published by Friedrich Christoph Perthes (German, 1772–1843), Night (Nacht), from the series Times of the Day (Die Zeiten), 1803/05, published 1807.

Etching with engraving. Plate: 28 1/16 × 18 11/16 in. (71.28 × 47.47 cm); sheet: 31 1/2 × 21 15/16 in. (80.01 × 55.72 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Hans Jakob Oeri (Swiss, 1782–1868), after Johann Friedrich Overbeck (German, 1789–1869), published by Johann Velten (German, 1784–1864), Joseph Being Sold by His Brothers (Joseph wird von seinen Brüdern verkauft), 1826.

Lithograph. 21 15/16 × 27 3/8 in. (55.72 × 69.53 cm); sheet: 25 15/16 × 31 3/8 in. (65.88 × 79.69 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Carl Friedrich Lessing (German, 1808–1880), Landscape with Wanderers, 1837.

Pen and brown ink and watercolor over graphite on paper. Sheet: 6 1/2 × 11 1/4 in. (16.51 × 28.58 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (German, 1807–1863), In the Park Chigi (Aus dem Park Chigi), ca. 1840.

Etching, printed chine collé. Plate: 9 3/4 × 12 in. (24.77 × 30.48 cm); sheet: 7 3/8 × 10 1/2 in. (18.73 × 26.67 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774–1840), printed by Christian Friedrich, Woman with a Raven at the Abyss (Die Frau mit dem Raben am Abgrund), 1803.

Woodcut. Block: 6 3/4 × 4 11/16 in. (17.15 × 11.91 cm); sheet: 9 1/4 × 6 7/8 in. (23.5 × 17.46 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund. Photo by John R. Glembin

Philipp Otto Runge (German, 1777–1810), etched and engraved by Johann Gottlieb Seyfert (German, 1760–1824), published by Friedrich Christoph Perthes (German, 1772–1843), Evening (Abend), from the series Times of Day (Die Zeiten), 1803/05, published 1807.

Etching with engraving. Plate: 28 × 18 13/16 in. (71.12 × 47.78 cm); sheet: 31 9/16 × 21 15/16 in. (80.17 × 55.72 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund

Franz Ittenbach (German, 1813–1879), Queen of Heaven, 1872.

Oil on panel. 39 × 22 7/16 in. (99 × 57 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, purchase, René von Schleinitz Memorial Fund and with funds in memory of Betty Croasdaile and John E. Julien

Ferdinand Olivier (German, 1785–1841), printed by Adolph Kunike (Austrian, 1777–1838), published by Ferdinand Olivier (German, 1785–1841), Monday: Rosenecker Garden outside Salzburg (Montag: Rosenecker Garten vor Salzburg), from the series Seven Places in Salzburg and Berchtesgaden (Sieben Gegenden aus Salzburg und Berchtesgaden), 1818–22, published 1823.

Lithograph with tint stone and hand touching. 7 3/4 × 10 13/16 in. (19.69 × 27.46 cm); sheet: 14 1/8 × 19 7/8 in. (35.88 × 50.48 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Bequest. Photo by John R. Glembin

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Support

Supporting sponsors

  • Katharine and Sandy Mallin

  • Milwaukee Art Museum’s Print Forum

Additional support provided by

  • Drs. Peter Drescher and Karin Madsen Drescher

The Milwaukee Art Museum extends its sincere thanks to the Visionaries.

  • Mark and Debbie Attanasio

  • Donna and Donald Baumgartner

  • Murph Burke

  • Bill and Sandy Haack

  • Chris Harned and Elizabeth Quadracci Harned

  • The Helmerich Trust

  • Kenneth and Alice Kayser

  • Joan Lubar and John Crouch

  • Jeff and Gail Yabuki