BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.- The Center for Fine Arts Brussels presents Views on Europe - Europe and German painting in the 19th Century, on view through May 13, 2007, an exhibition of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München in cooperation with the Centre for Fine Arts. For 2007 - the year of Germany's presidency of the European Union - the Centre for Fine Arts will be staging an exceptional exhibition dedicated to 19th century art and art history in Germany. The “Views of Europe” exhibition will take a particularly original and innovative approach to this period by endeavouring to highlight the influences on it, but also the huge interaction between artistic production in Germany and that going on elsewhere in Europe. Taking masterpieces of German painting mostly from major collections in Berlin, Dresden and Munich, the focal point of the exhibition will be the different parts of Europe and their cultural and artistic characteristics. It will start with Greece, the country that provided modern Europe's structure and cultural roots, with works by artists such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Leo von Klenze. Italy, the land of desire whose unique atmosphere inspired Karl Blechen, Arnold Böcklin and Oswald Achenbach, will follow. Art in 1800 will focus on northern Europe, through the Academy in Copenhagen and the discovery of Nordic myths in paintings by Philipp Otto Runge and Caspar David Friedrich. Switzerland and Austria, whose mountainous regions evoke spiritual and political freedom but equally reflect the romantic cult of nature, will also feature thanks to the talent of Ludwig Richter. Belgium, which gave considerable impetus in German art to historical painting just as England did with portrait painting, will be evoked through the works of Anton Graff. For its part France, more than any other country, was a true melting pot for art: the aftershocks of the impact of Parisian painting on German art are felt in the paintings of Carl Spitzweg and Wilhelm Leibl. And last but not least come Spain, Poland and the Netherlands: Adolph Menzel from Berlin, one of the most remarkable observers of German and European life in the 19th century, will bring this magnificent journey to a close.