Hamburger Kunsthalle buys rare drawing by Philipp Otto Runge

Philipp Otto Runge, alongside Caspar David Friedrich, is considered the most important early Romantic painter. In Hamburg, where the Wolgaster native lived since 1795, his 250th birthday will be celebrated big next year. The Hamburger Kunsthalle is dedicating a comprehensive exhibition to Runge entitled “Romantic. Radical. Modern” from September 17, 2027.

As an early anniversary gift, so to speak, the museum was able to announce the purchase of a drawing that Runge made in 1801 with black and white chalk on brown paper from one of his brothers. According to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, this is “probably” Jakob Friedrich Runge, who lived in his Western Pomeranian homeland, while Philipp Otto followed his eldest brother Johann Daniel to the Elbe.

The 52 x 40 centimeter sheet is one of a series of portrait drawings that Runge made as preliminary studies for a monumental mural in his brother's house in Wolgat. However, the family portrait entitled “Homecoming of the Sons” was never executed. Further studies on the project are now in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and in the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin.

A large part of Philipp Otto Runge's work is kept in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The new addition was made possible largely by the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation and the Campe Historical Art Foundation; “The purchase came from a private collection in Düsseldorf”. Nothing was known about the purchase price.

The drawing last appeared in art stores in autumn 2023. The Berlin auction house Grisebach offered it from a collection in the Rhineland in the “Art of the 19th Century” auction, in which Caspar David Friedrich's “Karlsruhe Sketchbook from 1804” was also to be auctioned. Despite being awarded the contract, this could not initially be sold after it was placed under national cultural heritage protection. The Runge drawing was also not auctioned at the time.

It was advertised by Grisebach three years ago as “one of the artist’s last large-format drawings in private ownership” and estimated at 250,000 to 350,000 euros. With a final bid of 230,000 euros, the drawing did not reach the estimated value and was returned to the owner.