Art Museums: Washington D.C.

This stunning exhibition of 120 of the finest German drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection showcases major works ranging from the 17th-century baroque and 18th-century rococo to 19th-century romanticism and realism. Passionately assembled by Wolfgang Ratjen (1943–1997) over three decades, the drawings include rare, evocative, and influential examples by Hans von Aachen, Johann Rottenhammer, and Adam Elsheimer; studies for soaring religious ceilings by some of the greatest South German artists, including Cosmas Damian Asam, Matthäus Günther, and Johann Baptist Enderle; delightful Augsburg designs for rococo prints by Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner, Johann Esaias Nilson, and Gottfried Eichler; landscape watercolors by Johann Georg von Dillis and Caspar David Friedrich; architectural watercolors by Balthasar Neumann, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and Rudolf von Alt; and an exciting group of realist drawings by Hans Thoma, Adolph Menzel, and Max Liebermann.