ALL EYES ON highlights a work or group of works, a significant artist personality or artistic position, guest appearances by individual loans, important restorations, or new acquisitions in the midst of the gallery. The artistic as well as technical qualities of the paintings, their content and significance, their history of creation and impact, and their creators are illuminated in the context of the collection. This opens up new, current perspectives and diverse insights into the research work at the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen.

Even at the time of their creation, works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder were highly sought after. One of the most important collectors was Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, who also owned “The Land of Cockaigne”. Today, it is one of the main works in the Alte Pinakothek. But how did it end up in Munich? 

The presentation traces the painting's journey from the Richard von Kaufmann Collection to the 1917 auction at Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbing to the Alte Pinakothek. Several of the people who made the acquisition of “The Land of Cockaigne” for the Alte Pinakothek possible were persecuted, marginalised and murdered for being Jewish during the time of National Socialism. They are representative of the numerous patrons of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen who contributed significantly to the expansion of Bavarian art collections. This presentation commemorates their commitment.