Galerie Neue Meister

The Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden, Germany, displays around 300 paintings from the 19th century until today, including works from Otto Dix, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. The gallery also exhibits a number of sculptures from the Dresden Sculpture Collection from the same period. The museum's collection grew out of the Old Masters Gallery, for which contemporary works were increasingly purchased after 1843.The New Masters Gallery is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen (State Art Collections) of Dresden. It is located in the Albertinum.HistoryThe collection began as part of the Dresden Painting Gallery. The purchase of contemporary works, creating the "Modern Department", was stepped up in 1843 under Bernhard von Lindenau, director of the Royal Museums, who personally donated 700 talers each year for this purpose. The Academic Council, responsible for the gallery and the Academy of Fine Arts, also contributed 50 percent of the proceeds from its exhibitions towards new purchases. However, these funds were only enough for limited acquisitions, mostly restricted to German works.