Emerged from Obscurity!

Mannheim-born painter Philipp Klein made his career in Munich and Berlin. As a self-taught impressionist he inspired both the public and the critics with his expert use of colour and light. Kleins paintings were displayed in important exhibitions of that era along with those of celebrated German impressionists like Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt. His membership in both the Munich and Berlin Secession got him connected with artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker, Wassily Kandinsky and Edvard Munch.  The same way his natural scenes and interiors increasingly  attracted  public attention, renowned German galleries like Paul Cassirer accroached Klein’s artworks.

Both the pressure to succed and creative urge frayed Kleins’s health. Officially invited to take part at VII. Biennale at Venice in 1907 he was unable to travel. The same year he died in a sanatorium close to Mannheim only 36 years of age. Although his oeuvre was widely considered during his lifetime, his early dead and the First World War buried his reputation in oblivion. After more than 100 years this exhibition will recognize and estimate Philipp Klein’s works and will rediscover the art of an unique impressionist.