"Good morning, Vielliebchen". Emanuel Leutze's friendship pictures

The painter Emanuel Leutze, who was born in Schwäbisch Gmünd in 1816 and died in Washington in 1868, took particular pleasure in depicting friends, acquaintances, fellow painters and family members. The exhibition is based on a new acquisition for the museum collection: the portrait of Friedrich Wilhelm Hütz from 1863. Hütz was a Rhenish businessman who made his fortune in South America. According to the inscription, the painting was created as a prize for a game of "Vielliebchen" in Düsseldorf in 1862. The Vielliebchen game was a popular custom in the 19th century in which two friends shared a double almond found at a meal and ate it together. The person who greeted the other first the next morning with the phrase "Good morning, Vielliebchen" won and could look forward to a gift from the loser. The exhibition conveys a portrait of the times from Leutze's artistic point of view, a story about friendship, love and the freedom of the spirit in Germany after the 1848 revolution. Around 40 works are on display, including paintings by Leutze that have never been shown in Schwäbisch Gmünd before.