The fascinating landscapes of East Prussia have inspired many artists. At the Academy of Fine Art in Königsberg, founded in 1845, the subject of "landscape painting" therefore played a special role.
The artist colony Nida became famous, where painters met regularly. Its reputation spread far beyond the borders of East Prussia.
Not much has remained of the works of the painters and sculptors of the 14th to 18th centuries. In addition, after the loss of independence of the Duchy of Prussia, there was no promotion of the arts by a local sovereign. Arts and crafts, by contrast, and particularly goldsmithing and amber craftwork flourished, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. Around 1830 Königsberg (today’s Kaliningrad) began to develop into an art centre.
Many East Prussian painters lost a large part of their works of art in 1945, so that they are, quite unjustly, little known today. The most famous artists from East Prussia are Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) and Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945).
Illustration:
Wildly romantic landscape: The Wolf Gorge in Warnicken (today Lesnoje) on the Samland coast. Opaque colour picture of the Biedermeier period, around 1840. East Prussian State Museum