The exhibition “Art around 1800” at the Hamburger Kunsthalle opens its doors from 5 December 2025 to 29 March 2026 and is dedicated to an extraordinary exhibition cycle that illuminated the groundbreaking role of artworks in the age of revolutions between 1974 and 1981. The series at the time not only shaped the debate on the social relevance of art, but also scrutinised established European art history. The focus was on creative personalities such as Caspar David Friedrich, Angelika Kauffmann, Johann Heinrich Füssli, William Blake, William Turner, Philipp Otto Runge and Francisco Goya — artists who boldly defied the conventions of their time and established new, forward-looking themes and forms of expression.
The current exhibition picks up on the historical displays under the direction of former director Werner Hofmann and comments on them from a contemporary perspective. Over 50 paintings, books and graphic works from around 1800 are combined with selected loans and works by contemporary artists. The result is an exciting dialogue between past and present that shows how revolutionary ideas and artistic experiments continue to have an impact and inspire today. A visit is worthwhile for anyone who wants to rediscover the transformative power of art around 1800.
