iAlte PinakothekKunstareal, Maxvorstadt
Liaisons françaises
The Alte Pinakothek's French collection from Claude Lorrain to Boucher, tracing the acquisitions and Wittelsbach-French artistic ties behind it.
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Preview: written before the show opened
Look at what the bride from Nancy is holding: a folding fan, in 1595 an extravagant import from Asia. Her father, the Duke of Lorraine, sent this portrait of her in French court dress to the family of her groom, the future Maximilian I of Bavaria. Several paintings here reached Munich the same way, through a marriage, a court favourite or an inheritance.
This is the first major exhibition the Alte Pinakothek has given its French collection: around 50 artists, plus select loans from Germany and abroad. It runs from Claude Lorrain landscapes that reached Bavaria in the 1600s to Boucher's 1756 portrait of Madame de Pompadour. Many more arrived around 1800, when the Wittelsbach galleries of Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Zweibrücken merged with Munich's.
It fills the west side of the ground floor. The exhibition ticket is €12 (€8 reduced), or €4 on Sundays, and includes the permanent collection. The €12 combined ticket for all the Pinakotheken isn't valid at the Alte Pinakothek while it runs.
Editor's pick
A 1595 bride from Nancy holds a folding fan, then an extravagant Asian import, in the portrait sent to her Bavarian groom's family. The Alte Pinakothek's first big show of its French paintings runs from Claude Lorrain to Boucher's Pompadour.
Look for
Elisabeth Renata of Lorraine
Jean de Wayembourg's 1595 bride in French court dress holds a folding fan, a luxury imported from Asia, in a portrait sent ahead to her Bavarian in-laws.
Boucher's Madame de Pompadour
Louis XV's official mistress, painted in 1756, stands in for the lost Pompadour portrait once owned by her friend Christian IV of Zweibrücken.
Poussin's Midas and Bacchus
A sensuous Greek myth bought by Elector Max Emanuel in 1698, which enchanted the guests at Karl Albrecht's 1722 wedding at Nymphenburg Palace.
Claude Lorrain's A Seaport at Sunrise
A harbour at sunrise from 1674, commissioned directly from Claude in Rome by Franz von Mayer, a collector serving the Bavarian court.
Lemoyne's A Hunting Party
The show's poster picture, painted around 1730, came to Munich around 1800 when the Wittelsbach galleries were merged.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
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Image credits
8
- Liaisons françaisesCourtesy of Alte Pinakothek
- Between and Beyond: Interspaces and Transitions in Art since 1960Foto: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Sibylle Forster © Estate of Dan Flavin / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
- Klarenbeek & Dros: Design of the UnusualPhoto: Klarenbeek & Dros
- Alte PinakothekChronox-A / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- State Museum of Egyptian ArtFred Romero / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Pinakothek der ModerneRufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museum BrandhorstMartin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0
- GlyptothekDaderot, Public domain