During the inauguration of Nandalal Bose Centenary Exhibition on December 5, 1983, His Excellency Mr. Kurt Loeffler, Secretary of State for Culture, GDR, exchanged a few words with our late Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi. During this conversation, Dr. Loeffler had assured that the GDR will send an important exhibition of paintings by Old Masters, including those by Cranach, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian and Tintoretto, etc. The GDR has fulfilled that commitment, at least to some extent. Unfortunately, however, Smt. Indira Gandhi is not among us to see this exhibition. In fact, a few days before her death, when she last visited the National Museum and was informed that the exhibition of Art Treasures from Dresden will soon be on view, she promised to visit the exhibition. Were it not for her support and encouragement, it would not have been possible to organise not only this international exhibition, but many others which have contributed to enhance the importance of Delhi as a major centre of art activities.
Forty oil paintings included in this exhibition are by some of the important German, Flemish and Italian painters. Whereas the paintings by Duerer and Cranach represent German paintings, those by Titian, Tintoretto and Reni will yield a glimpse of Italian manifestations. Over and above, paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Dyck, etc. provide an excellent opportunity to see at least a few works of those famous masters whose names are known to us, but whose works were never seen by Indian public. These cover a wide range of subjects: portraits, religious and allegorical themes, landscapes, and flowers, etc. Besides their artistic excellence, these paintings also provide an idea of the social ethos of respective periods and countries, which will also enrich our visual perception and inspire a sense of aesthetic delight.
Furthermore, this exhibition is an evidence of growing cultural ties and active cooperation between India and German Democratic Republic. It also establishes that in exchange of major international exhibitions, countries should not only follow principles of reciprocity, but should also be generous. After all, when our world is torn with conflict and political tensions, art could provide a tranquil and soothing atmosphere.
It is true that under-developed or developing countries do not have such vast material resources as those of the developed ones, however, their rich cultural heritage should not be under-estimated. In the context of north- south" dialogue, it should not be forgotten that some of the countries of the south saw the dawn of civilization, thought and culture much earlier; and were it not for the masterpieces of works of art from these nations, museums of prosperous countries would not have been so rich as they are today.
For centuries Dresden has been an important Euro- pean centre of art. Its art museums can look back on a history that is over four hundred years old. They comprise vast and varied treasures of world culture, outstanding testimonies of painting, graphic and plastic arts, arts and crafts and material folk art. Their historical range extends from the works of classical antiquity to the present-day artistic creation in the GDR and other socialist countries. The most famous of the Dresden collections is certainly the Picture Gallery of Old Masters with its precious paintings by German, Dutch, Italian, French and Spanish masters from the 15th to the 18th century. The Picture Gallery of New Masters includes pictures of the 19th and 20th centuries. The other museums of the National Art Collections of Dresden too enjoy unchallenged world reputation: the copper engravings cabinet, the collection of sculptures with its famous antiquity department, the collection of porcelain, the treasure chamber "Green Vault", the collection of pomp weapons in the Museum of History, the Arts and Crafts Museum at Pillnitz Castle and the coin cabinet. The Museum of Popular Art-an ethnographic collection tailored to Saxony-which was opened in 1913 and the puppet theatre collection were associated to the Museums Union as late as 1968. The Central Arts Library is regarded as an important research instrument for the specialized art collections.
The historically important Picture Gallery of Old Masters is regarded as the centre of the National Art Collections of Dresden. Like the other collections, it emerged from the art chamber founded by the Elector August (1526-1586) in the castle. The "art and miracle chambers", filled with curios, natural history specimens, scientific instruments, books, atlases, rare and odd objects, primarily satisfied the electoral representation needs both in Saxony and in other countries. But the Saxon art chamber also largely testified to scientific-technical progress of the time.
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