Johann August Otto Gehler (1762–1822), who worked in Leipzig as a councillor, lawyer and town master mason, was a passionate art collector. He concentrated on works on paper, especially drawings from the late 15th century up to his own times. As an art lover and aspiring member of the educated middle class, he took drawing lessons from Adam Friedrich Oeser (1717–1799) and Veit Hanns Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1764–1841).
Gehler passed on his passion for the fine arts to his daughter Emilie (1793–1857), who married Heinrich Dörrien (1786–1858). In 1859, after the death of his daughter and his son-in-law, his extensive collection became the property of the museum as a legacy of the Dörrien family. Thus, the initiator of this important collection was forgotten for a long time.
The first selection of works from his collection contains over 20 drawings by German, Dutch, and Italian artists from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Preliminary drawings for stained glass windows, copperplate engravings, altars and precious objects can be discovered. However, there are also independent drawings that demonstrate the appreciation of this medium in the early modern period. What the works have in common is the medium of paper and the use of the pencil. The latter can be made of metal or charcoal. Quills and brushes are also represented.
