Königliche Sammellust : Wilhelm I. von Württemberg als Sammler und Förderer der Künste
As a regent he gave the young kingdom of Württemberg a historical identity; his multifarious initiatives as a collector and patron, however, have all but sunk into oblivion. The holdings of the Staatsgalerie, which opened in 1843, were expanded by artworks in royal ownership as well as by personal gifts. Wilhelm I moreover initiated the acquisition of the Barbini-Breganze collection, which today forms the core of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart’s holdings in the area of Italian Baroque painting. The royal gifts, still present in our museum’s collection in their near entirety, are now to be presented to the public for the first time in many decades. Numerous furnishings from Wilhelm I’s private residences as well as masterpieces from his private painting collection – which was disbanded after 1918 – will be on view. On the basis of the records at the Staatsarchiv Baden-Württemberg, which have been preserved almost in full, light will also be shed on the history of the royal purchases.The exhibition, held at Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, is being realized in cooperation with the Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. (…more at Artbooks…)