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 third cabinet exhibition contains over 20 drawings of Dutch and Flemish art from the 16th to 18th centuries, including works by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568 – 1625) and Hans Bol (1534 – 1593). In addition to religious, historical and mythological themes, there are also landscapes, animals and plants. The preferred drawing media are chalk, ink, pen and brush.
