‘Schinkel's Legacy - From Depot to Discussion'

‘Schinkel's Legacy - From Depot to Discussion' With around 5000 drawings mostly by his own hand and 500 prints, Berlin's Kupferstichkabinett is home to the most important collection of the works of Karl Friedrich Schinkel anywhere in the world and includes his travel sketches, studies and architectural plans for buildings and even designs for the stage and furniture. Due to their very nature, these works - all executed on paper - are damned to a life in the shadows. Bringing them to light again is now the aim of the three-year project, entitled ‘Schinkel's Legacy and Historical Representation in Early Historicism. From Depot to Discussion - 3 Transformations', which has been generously funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In the project, art history and scientific and technological research go hand in hand in fulfilling the core tasks of a museum: to preserve, index and explore works and disseminate knowledge. All research findings will be entered into the National Museums' museum documentation system, which will in turn be used to form the base for the Schinkel Museum's online catalogue, accessible to the public and housed at the Kupferstichkabinett itself. Study days and a colloquium on conservation and art historical themes are also planned as part of the project. In addition, two small one-room shows will be held in conjunction with the Old National Gallery which presides over Schinkel's paintings. All findings will subsequently go towards a major international Schinkel exhibition, which will be presented by the Kupferstichkabinett as the culmination of the project in the second half of 2012.