The installations »Perspective of Dresden« were realised in 2008 as part of the training project »In the Trail of Canaletto – City Views made with the Camera Obscura« and with financial support from the Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Kultus (Saxon Ministry of Culture and Sports).
Three historical Dresden views by the Venetian painter Bernardo Bellotto (1722–1780), known as Canaletto, were marked by art installations in the shape of a typical easel. Each easel frames one of Canaletto's perspectives of today's city and is accompanied by an information table with details of the location and the artist, and a copy of the corresponding original »Perspective of Dresden«.
At three distinct locations – at »Canaletto-view« on the meadows by the Elbe in front of Hotel Bellevue, at the moat of the Zwinger, and on Brühl's terrace – citizens of Dresden and visitors of the city can easily compare the former and present perspectives. The combination of installation and information promotes historically informed ways of viewing the city, and allows for the observation of several significant monuments of Dresden - like the Zwinger and Brühl's Terrace - from a particular perspective.
The aims of »Perspectives of Dresden« are to establish the extended installations as part of a historical walk around the inner-city of Dresden and to extend the project to further locations in the future.
With kindly support from the City of Dresden – Department of green space
and the Free State of Saxony – Schlösser und Gärten Dresden
The installations »Perspectives of Dresden« are a part of the public campaign for the support of the restoration project »Für Canaletto« of the association »Museis Saxonicis Usui – Freunde der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen e.V.« (Friends of Dresden State Art Collection e.V.)
At the three locations, newly created information boards and accompanying activities such as city tours, workshops and project days, will inform visitors about the restoration of Canaletto's famous city view »Dresden from the right banks of the Elbe below the Augustus bridge« – also more commonly known as »Canaletto-view«.
The painting from the year 1748 is among the most significant works of the Dresdner Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Dresden Old Masters Picture Gallery). It shaped the image of Dresden in the world and the self-perception of its citizens like no other. The public will therefore be involved from the outset in this ambitious restoration project, and committed citizens will be invited to make donations for the preservation of these masterworks.
The painting exhibition »Perspectives of Dresden« is a contribution by the Sächsisch-Bretonische Gesellschaft e.V. (Saxony-Brittany Society e.V.) to the festival »20 ans après – 20 Jahre danach« (»20 years after«) from 9th -14th November 2009, Rennes, Brittany.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, two young artists – one French and one from Dresden – show in different motives, colours and shapes their rather personal views of the Saxon capital, Dresden.
The festival »20 ans après – 20 Jahre danach« (»20 years after«) offers a multi-faceted agenda with German, French and international participation. The central focus of these events is the reunification of Germany, which, through the fall of the Berlin wall, sparked the process of European unification.
