MUNICH, GERMANY -- I'm taking a one-month bicycle tour of Germany with the incentive of seeing the Carl von Marr painting "The Flagellants" displayed at the Haus der Kunst in Munich.

The painting is part of the museum's exhibit entitled "The Trial of Strength -- 200 years of The Academy of Fine Arts."

Marr went to school, taught and became the director of the academy and his painting is the centerpiece of the three month-exhibit featuring 90 works of art.

"It looks like a big Hollywood set," said one of the docents joking with conservator Tony Rajer who helped with the removal of the painting from the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, and traveled with the piece to Munich. Rajer spent the last two weeks rebuilding the spring frame and installing the 14 x 25-ft. painting.

"The single biggest revelation for Germans is they knew Carl von Marr, but they didn't know his work," said Rajer, impressed with how the painting looks so different wearing a simple red, wood frame and hung against a white wall of a gallery that has 30-ft. ceilings and is the size of a basketball court.

"Suddenly all the light colors pop out and you get the sense of people moving in space."

Rajer also praised the natural light from the skylights in the ceiling and gushed at how they mixed with the incandescent lights.

Hundreds attend exhibit premiere

The Haus der Kunst rolled out the red carpet for the exhibit; over 450 people attended the private premiere and 700 were at the public opening, including 150 journalists.

A lot of paintings in the exhibit show death, suffering, hard times and war.

"You see the painting of the death of Alexander the Great, the face of Alexander isn't finished, because the artist died," said Rajer of Karl von Piloty, who passed away leaving the Greek leader looking as if he had the face of a ghost.

Rajer also raved about the watercolors by Sophia Stryjenska. "She was in her 20s and came to the academy dressed as a man, with her brother's passport," said Rajer, explaining how the arts were designated a man's profession.

Two years into Stryjenska's schooling, her true identity was discovered and she was thrown out of the academy.

Another interesting tidbit includes the painting of a fight at sea between the Norwegians and the Swedish. The painting is on loan from the King of Norway.

As far as "The Flagellants" is concerned, Rajer said the painting takes up all the oxygen in the room. That room has 25-ft. high doorways with marble trim and marble flooring. "You're so close to the painting you can see Marr's technique and his colors are so sensuous it looks like he was painting with butter."