Munich in the 19th century was the undisputed German capital of art,
outshone internationally only by Paris. Albert von Keller (1844–1920)
was a well-respected and productive Munich painter with roots in Zurich
and a wealth of contacts in the French art world. In 1870 he began
to exhibit copiously, and from 1883 on was a frequent participant in
the Paris salon. In 1886 he joined Munich's newly founded Psychological
Society and in 1892 co-founded the Munich Secession.
      The very picture of the contemporary artist, von Keller interpreted
classical visual subjects in what was considered the modern style and
thus updated them, bringing his understanding of the modern sensibility
to bear on a transposition of social mores into the present day.
Von Keller demonstrated a variety of painting techniques, like a virtuoso
pianist in his mastery and combination of a wide range of styles and
performance methods. Indeed, in his studio as well as at home, in an
ostentatiously central location, the aristocrat of painting would play on a
Bechstein grand, and considered his art an outgrowth of the spirit of
music, as created by such composers as Chopin and Wagner. Of special
interest to von Keller was the occult: he was fascinated by phenomena
in the no-man’s-land between life and death, between objective
perception and suggestive deception. Characteristic of the painter was
also his fondness for all manner of palimpsest.
      Von Keller’s expressive range was astonishingly broad, running
the gamut from pleasing harmony all the way to alienating dissonance,
and his art thus offers a detailed account of Wilhelmian and Belle
Époque society. He was guided in his painting by the precept of liberty,
and women furnished him with his chief motif. Jugend magazine praised
von Keller for training a ‘new and wonderful’ light on the female sex.
His sensitive way with a paintbrush and the brilliance of his colours
created works whose atmospheric Impressionism is mysteriously
suggestive: the marriage of Psyche and peinture.
      The Kunsthaus Zürich is hosting the first comprehensive museum
show dedicated to Albert von Keller in a century. Curated by Gian Casper
Bott, the exhibition finally allows a modern public to re-discover a
painter renowned in his own lifetime (in 1914 critics spoke of a veritable
‘Keller-mania’) and to evaluate his work without preconceptions.
Keller’s pictures, which were considered modern by his contemporaries,
offer today’s viewers a glimpse at the world in which classical modernism
was revolutionized. The exhibition is based on the collection of
Dr. Oskar A. Müller, which came to the Kunsthaus in 2006, supplemented
with objects on loan from private collections and other museums. Chief
among the latter is Munich’s Neue Pinakothek, whose works on show
in Zurich include Keller’s ‘Resurrection’ painting (1886), his legendary
large-format masterpiece. Chosen for their exemplary character,
fully 130 pieces created over the course of some fifty years offer a
comprehensive survey of Albert von Keller’s work.