Adolph von Menzel, “Procession in Hofgastein”

Adolph von Menzel, “Procession in Hofgastein”

The seventh decade of the 19th century in Prussia was marked by Kulturkampf, a policy imposed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, which aimed to limit the influence of the Catholic Church. This had an impact on the art being created during that time. The painting by Adolph von Menzel, created in 1880, depicts the Corpus Christi procession in the Austrian town of Hofgastein. In this composition, the painter managed to merge two worlds: the Catholic ritual and the secular audience that does not participate in the procession. The painting was exhibited in Berlin and Munich in the 1880s and 1890s, receiving positive reactions from both critics and the audience. The dynamic composition, bathed in summer sunlight, brings together the focused participants of the procession and the onlookers from the mountain resort. The formal qualities of the painting perfectly showcase the departure from realistic painting towards Impressionism, presenting a scene in its multidimensionality, capturing a specific moment along with the weather conditions. The titular motif, shifted to the background, allows for a distance from the main event and identification with the group of observers.

Interestingly, this canvas, depicting a Catholic holiday, remained in the hands of collectors of Jewish origin for decades, emphasizing that the artistic merits were crucial for art connoisseurs who admired it. The painting was part of the collection of banker Julius Schiff in Berlin and later in the possession of his wife Olga Schiff. Most likely, after her death in 1918, the painting ended up in the collection of Leo Lewin in Breslau. In 1927, it was auctioned in Berlin by Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbing. Subsequent owners included someone named Oliven from Zurich, Theodor Fischer’s gallery in Lucerne (in 1941), and the Haberstock salon in Berlin. Since 1951, the canvas has been housed in a museum in Munich.

Painting Information:

oil on canvas, Dimensions: 52 x 72 cm, current location: Neue Pinakothek, Munich.

Literature: Adolph Menzel (1815-1905): Between Romanticism and Impressionism, kat. wystawy: Musée d’Orsay, Paris, April 15 – July 28, 1996, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, February 7 – May 11, 1997, red. Claude Kielsch, Marie Ursula Riemann-Reyher, New Haven 1996, s. 406.