Masterworks in Berlin: A City's Paintings Reunited

Colin Eisler, a professor at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, was born in Berlin, and had to flee the city as a refugee at age two. During the ensuing war the city was largely destroyed, and afterward literally split in two by Cold War enmity characterized by a chilling wall. Eisler has undertaken the happy task of documenting the city's art collections as they are brought together and the city's museums restored. From the legendary Museum Island in eastern Berlin to Frederick the Great's Sanssouci Palace to what was once the Old Master Museum in Dahlem, Eisler takes us on a tour of the city's art troves. There remains a colossal task to finish in Berlin; it will take years to restore buildings and rearrange collections. The final relocation of many of the works in the book is unknown. But Eisler provides a tantalizing glimpse of the city's treasure.