Neue Pinakothek

Lonely Planet review

Neue Pinakothek harbours a well-respected collection of 19th- and early 20-century paintings and sculpture, from rococo to Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). Its imposing original structure by Friedrich von Gärtner was destroyed during WWII and not rebuilt; since 1981 works are housed in a modernist structure by Alexander von Branca.

All the world-famous household names get coverage here, including crowd-pleasing French impressionists such as Monet, Cézanne and Degas as well as Van Gogh, whose bold pigmented Sunflowers (1888) radiates cheer. There are also several works by Gauguin, including Breton Peasant Women (1894); and by Manet including Breakfast in the Studio (1869).

Perhaps the most memorable canvases, though, are by Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich who specialised in emotionally-charged, brooding landscapes such as Riesengebirge Landscape with Rising Mist .

Locals painters getting a shot at wall space include Carl Spitzweg and Wilhelm von Kobell of the so-called Dachau School; and Munich society painters such as Wilhelm von Kaulbach, Franz Lenbach and Karl von Piloty. Another focus is on the works by the Deutschrömer (German Romans), a group of neoclassicists centred around Johann Koch who stuck mainly to Italian landscapes.