The first artworks created by artists of the Dresden Art Academy related to impressionism and art nouveau as well as other German schools of painting came together in this collection long before the museum opening, in fact around 1900. During the 1920s the first museum director Hildebrand Gurlitt acquired the very latest in contemporary art such as works from the New Objectivity movement or expressionism of which a few fortunately could overcome the Nazi's ‘Degenerate Art’ campaign in 1937. In 1971 the donation of Walter Hentschel, an art historian from Dresden (1899–1970), provided a significant enrichment to the collection, notably by Masters from the 16th until the 18th century and paintings by the Dresden Romantics. Until today the collection focuses in particular on Saxonian painting.
The Collection of Paintings
