From 1899 to 1919, Hans Thoma was the director of the Grand Ducal Gallery, today’s State Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. At that time, this was still a ducal collection with the ultimate authority in the hands of the Grand Duke. When Thoma took office, he was a successful artist and sixty years old.

In his task of maintaining and expanding the collection, he was supervised by the General Director’s Office of the Grand Ducal Civil List. Moreover, any planned purchases needed the approval of an Acquisitions Commission. Under Thoma’s years as director, the collection grew by around 400 paintings, 1100 graphic works and 30 sculptures, mostly bought though some were gifts or bequeathed to the Gallery.

In those days, many museums in Imperial Germany were interested in acquiring regional art, and Thoma was no different. In his role as an artist director – and not an art historian – he particularly supported contemporary art from Baden. Guided in his choice of works by his own artistic influences, he was no longer receptive to cutting-edge developments. Consequently, he did not open the collection to Impressionist or even Expressionist works, a gap his successor was left to fill.

This tour looks at six selected paintings that came into the Kunsthalle collection in very different ways while Hans Thoma was the Gallery director. It also offers a fascinating insight into the provenance, acquisition and content of these works.