(Apr. 30) – Painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, a German Romanticist, used to summarize his trip to Italy by saying that it was filled with “many beautiful things.” And today, “Many Beautiful Things” is the title of a conference, to be held May 7 at 7pm at the Italian Cultural Institute in Cologne, focusing on Schirmer’s trip to Italy in 1839-1840. The conference, in German, was commissioned by the Associazione degli Amici dell’Istituto to offer an overview on the artistic development of Schirmer, one of the representatives of the heroic painting trend. In particular, the conference will shed light on the artist’s working method, whose nature sketches and studies still maintain their extraordinary quality. Schirmer painted landscapes, biblical figures, and traveled a lot. During his long journeys, which took him to France and Italy, he developed themes that he then reused in new combinations for his paintings. The Italian experience deeply affected Schirmer, who, after his long stay in Milan, Genoa, Pisa, Valmonte, Civitavecchia and Rome, became director in 1854 of the Academy of Art in Karlsruhe. (red)
