Restored painting by Sascha Schneider comes to the reception building of the Karl May Museum

A damaged painting by Sascha Schneider (1870-1927) from the Karl May Museum in Radebeul, which has been in storage since 1994, has been restored. The painting "Auf zum Kampf", which measures just under 2.50 meters by a good 4.50 meters, will go into the future reception building, as the Karl May Foundation announced in Dresden on Tuesday. Until its completion, planned for 2026, it will be on display in the reading room of the Dresden City Archive from 26 January.

The work by the sculptor and painter Schneider, also known as "Phalanx of the Strong", was created around 1902 and, according to the museum, was first shown at the Dresden Art Exhibition in 1903. He gave it to the widow of adventure writer Karl May (1842-1912) as a gift in the 1920s. The artist and author had a long-standing friendship and Schneider had created new illustrations in the Symbolist style for the covers of May's travel stories as well as pictures for his home, Villa Shatterhand.

In 1960, Schneider's work was sold to the West by the GDR along with the majority of May's estate and was only repurchased in 1994. After almost 30 years in storage, it was restored in 2023 with the support of the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung and Sparkasse Meißen at the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege in Dresden - for around 62,000 euros.

The Karl May Foundation claims to hold the largest collection of works by the Russian-born artist, who lived in Dresden for many years.