A villa by the lake, framed by trees and lush flowers, lit by sunlight. In “Mein Haus in Wannsee mit Garten” (“My House in Wannsee with Garden”) (1926), Max Liebermann captured not only his retreat on the outskirts of Berlin, but the moment he arrived at his own visual language. At Museum Barberini, visitors can immerse themselves in his paintings and, on 08.05.2026 at the Barberini Salon, draw connections to the present. Max Liebermann painted his way to freedom. Inspired by French modernism, he abandoned the strict rules of his time. Toward the end of his career, his style became looser and the play of light and shadow ever more important. Some paintings feel surprisingly modern, almost abstract. At Museum Barberini in Potsdam, his liberated brushwork is a harbinger of a generation that gradually broke free from the constraints of naturalism. Liebermann was not alone. Together with artists such as Lovis Corinth, Lesser Ury, and Max Slevogt, and with women painters now being rediscovered, including Dora Hitz, Sabine Lepsius, and Maria Slavona, he helped pave the way for a new generation that thought about art differently. Through their works, the Barberini shows that Impressionism in Germany was far more than a mere imitation of its French model. With more than 110 works from over 60 collections, the exhibition unfolds a sweeping panorama of art from the 1880s to the 1930s. Luminous still lifes by Maria Slavona appear alongside Philipp Franck’s sailing boats and Gotthardt Kuehl’s quiet interiors.
Friday, 08.05.2026, is an especially good day to visit. On that evening, the exhibition will remain open until 22h for the first Barberini Salon, perfect for a relaxed evening at the museum. Museum Barberini invites visitors to a late viewing, to conversation, and to music by jazz vocalist Enji. Inspired by the legendary salons of Carl and Felicie Bernstein, close friends and important companions of Liebermann, the evening brings art and exchange together. Starting at 18h, host Shelly Kupferberg will speak with journalist and author Jens Bisky and artist Christoph Niemann, whose illustrations regularly appear on the covers of The New Yorker. While Bisky builds bridges from Liebermann’s era to the present in his writing, Niemann approaches the painter visually, for example, in his well-known tile mural at Berlin Wannsee station.
Text: Isabel Raab / Photos: David von Becker / Credit: Max Liebermann, Kunsthaus Zürich
Museum Barberini, Humboldtstr.5–6, Alter Markt, 14467 Potsdam; map
Avant-Garde: Max Liebermann and Impressionism in Germany until 07.06.2026
Barberini Salon: 08.05.2026 18h. Find tickets here.
@museumbarberini
