Die Brücke ( The Bridge ), also known as Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke , was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. The founding members were Fritz Bleyl , Erich Heckel , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff . Later members were Emil Nolde , Max Pechstein , and Otto Mueller . The seminal group had a major impact on the evolution of modern art in the 20th century and the creation of expressionism . The group came to an end around 1913. The Brücke Museum in Berlin was named after the group.
32-579: The Brücke is sometimes compared to the roughly contemporary French group of the Fauves . Both movements shared interests in primitivist art and in the expressing of extreme emotion through high-keyed colors that were very often non-naturalistic. Both movements employed a drawing technique that was crude, and both groups shared an antipathy to complete abstraction . The Brücke artists' emotionally agitated paintings of city streets and sexually charged events transpiring in country settings made their French counterparts,
64-412: A Dresden-based group of Expressionist artists. He was member of the group until it disbanded in 1913 due to artistic differences. At the same time Mueller also had contact with the artists group ' Der Blaue Reiter '. Mueller was known as incredibly antibourgeois and is said to have urinated on the floor of a middle-class household when he was invited for a dinner party. During World War I he fought as
96-617: A German soldier in France and Russia. After the war he became a professor at the Academy of Arts (Akademie der Bildenden Kunste) in Breslau where he taught until his death on 24 September 1930. Johnny Friedlaender and Isidor Ascheim were among his pupils there. In 1937 the Nazis seized 357 of his works from German museums as " degenerate art ". They also looted Mueller' artworks from Jewish collectors like
128-522: A fifteen-year-old girl from the neighbourhood, as "a very lively, beautifully built, joyous individual, without any deformation caused by the silly fashion of the corset and completely suitable to our artistic demands, especially in the blossoming condition of her girlish buds." The group composed a manifesto (mostly Kirchner's work), which was carved on wood and asserted a new generation, "who want freedom in our work and in our lives, independence from older, established forces." In September and October 1906,
160-477: A radical outlook in common. Kirchner continued studies in Munich 1903–1904, returning to Dresden in 1905 to complete his degree. The institution provided a wide range of studies in addition to architecture, such as freehand drawing, perspective drawing and the historical study of art. The name "Brücke" was intended to "symbolize the link, or bridge, they would form with art of the future". The Brücke aimed to eschew
192-662: Is closely related to Paul Cézanne 's Bathers , a series that would soon become a source of inspiration for Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon . The elected members of the hanging committee included Matisse, Signac and Metzinger. The third group exhibition of the Fauves occurred at the Salon d'Automne of 1906, held from 6 October to 15 November. Metzinger exhibited his Fauvist/Divisionist Portrait of M. Robert Delaunay (no. 1191) and Robert Delaunay exhibited his painting L'homme à la tulipe (Portrait of M. Jean Metzinger) (no. 420 of
224-500: The Salon des Indépendants in the spring of 1905. Following the Salon d'Automne of 1905, which marked the beginning of Fauvism, the Salon des Indépendants of 1906 marked the first time all the Fauves would exhibit together. The centerpiece of the exhibition was Matisse's monumental Le Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of Life). Critics were horrified by its flatness, bright colors, eclectic style and mixed technique. The triangular composition
256-433: The 1890s, and was viewed by critics as the group's philosophical leader until Matisse was recognized as such in 1904. Moreau's broad-mindedness, originality and affirmation of the expressive potency of pure color was inspirational for his students. Matisse said of him, "He did not set us on the right roads, but off the roads. He disturbed our complacency." This source of empathy was taken away with Moreau's death in 1898, but
288-669: The Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden under Georg Freyer and continued his study in Munich during 1898. He left Munich's academy after Franz von Stuck classified him as untalented. His early works are influenced by impressionism , Jugendstil and Symbolism . However, much of his early work is lost due to his own destruction of his early pieces. When he settled to Berlin in 1908, his style became more expressionist. During this time there were meetings with Wilhelm Lehmbruck , Rainer Maria Rilke and Erich Heckel . In 1910, he joined ' Die Brücke ',
320-474: The Fauves were among the first avant-garde artists to collect and study African and Oceanic art, alongside other forms of non-Western and folk art, leading several Fauves toward the development of Cubism . Gustave Moreau was the movement's inspirational teacher; a controversial professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and a Symbolist painter , he taught Matisse, Marquet, Manguin, Rouault, and Camoin during
352-885: The Fauves were characterized by seemingly wild brush work and strident colors, while their subject matter had a high degree of simplification and abstraction . Fauvism can be classified as an extreme development of Van Gogh 's Post-Impressionism fused with the pointillism of Seurat and other Neo-Impressionist painters, in particular Paul Signac . Other key influences were Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin , whose employment of areas of saturated color—notably in paintings from Tahiti—strongly influenced Derain's work at Collioure in 1905. In 1888 Gauguin had said to Paul Sérusier : "How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, put in yellow; this shadow, rather blue, paint it with pure ultramarine ; these red leaves? Put in vermilion ." Fauvism has been compared to Expressionism , both in its use of pure color and unconstrained brushwork. Some of
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#1732851942191384-630: The Fauves, seem tame by comparison. The founding members of the Brücke in 1905 were four Jugendstil architecture students: Fritz Bleyl (1880–1966), Erich Heckel (1883–1970), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976). They met through the Königliche Technische Hochschule ( technical university ) of Dresden , where Kirchner and Bleyl began studying in 1901 and became close friends in their first term. They discussed art together and also studied nature, having
416-558: The Littmanns. Other Muellers were lost or stolen during the war Several artworks by Mueller turned up in the Gurlitt hoard . Mueller was one of the most lyrical of German expressionist painters. The main topic of Mueller's works is the unity of humans and nature; his paintings emphasize a harmonious simplification of form, colour and contours. He is known especially for his characteristic paintings of nudes and Romani women; his nickname
448-556: The artists discovered other catalysts for their development. In 1896, Matisse, then an unknown art student, visited the artist John Russell on the island of Belle Île off the coast of Brittany . Russell was an Impressionist painter; Matisse had never previously seen an Impressionist work directly, and was so shocked at the style that he left after ten days, saying, "I couldn't stand it any more." The next year he returned as Russell's student and abandoned his earth-colored palette for bright Impressionist colors, later stating, "Russell
480-534: The artists' discovery of contemporary avant-garde art came an appreciation of pre- Renaissance French art, which was shown in a 1904 exhibition, French Primitives . Another aesthetic influence was African sculpture, of which Vlaminck , Derain and Matisse were early collectors. Many of the Fauve characteristics first cohered in Matisse's painting, Luxe, Calme et Volupté ("Luxury, Calm and Pleasure"), which he painted in
512-539: The catalogue). Matisse exhibited his Liseuse , two still lifes ( Tapis rouge and à la statuette ), flowers and a landscape (no. 1171–1175). Robert Antoine Pinchon showed his Prairies inondées ( Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray , près de Rouen) (no. 1367), now at the Musée de Louviers , painted in Fauvist style, with golden yellows, incandescent blues, thick impasto and larger brushstrokes. Paul Cézanne, who died during
544-416: The critic Camille Mauclair (1872–1945)—but also some favorable attention. The painting that was singled out for attacks was Matisse's Woman with a Hat ; this work's purchase by Gertrude and Leo Stein had a very positive effect on Matisse, who was suffering demoralization from the bad reception of his work. Matisse's Neo-Impressionist landscape, Luxe, Calme et Volupté , had already been exhibited at
576-528: The first group exhibition was held, focused on the female nude, in the showroom of K.F.M. Seifert and Co. in Dresden. Emil Nolde (1867–1956) and Max Pechstein (1881–1955) joined the group in 1906. Bleyl married in 1907, and, with a concern to support his family, left the group. Otto Mueller (1874–1930) joined in 1910. Between 1907 and 1911, Brücke members stayed during the summer at the Moritzburg lakes and on
608-427: The future in us, we want to wrest freedom for our actions and our lives from the older, comfortably established forces." As part of the affirmation of their national heritage, they revived older media, particularly woodcut prints . The group developed a common style based on vivid color, emotional tension, violent imagery, and an influence from primitivism . After first concentrating exclusively on urban subject matter,
640-431: The group ventured into southern Germany on expeditions arranged by Mueller and produced more nudes and arcadian images. They invented the printmaking technique of linocut , although they at first described them as traditional woodcuts , which they also made. The group members initially "isolated" themselves in a working-class neighborhood of Dresden, aiming thereby to reject their own bourgeois backgrounds. Erich Heckel
672-414: The island of Fehmarn . In 1911, Kirchner moved to Berlin, where he founded a private art school, MIUM-Institut, in collaboration with Max Pechstein with the aim of promulgating "Moderner Unterricht im Malen" (modern teaching of painting). This was not a success and closed the following year. In 1913, Kirchner wrote Chronik der Brücke (Brücke chronicle), which led to the ending of the group. The Brücke
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#1732851942191704-427: The name by which it became known, Fauvism . The artists shared their first exhibition at the 1905 Salon d’Automne. The group gained their name after Vauxcelles described their show of work with the phrase " Donatello chez les fauves " (" Donatello among the wild beasts"), contrasting their "orgy of pure tones" with a Renaissance -style sculpture by Albert Marque that shared the room with them. Henri Rousseau
736-402: The only Latvian painter who was really part of the Brücke expressionist movement, although he was not necessarily conscious of it. Fauvism Fauvism ( / f oʊ v ɪ z əm / FOH -viz-əm ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of les Fauves ( French pronunciation: [le fov] ,
768-565: The prevalent traditional academic style and find a new mode of artistic expression, which would form a bridge (hence the name) between the past and the present. They responded both to past artists such as Albrecht Dürer , Matthias Grünewald and Lucas Cranach the Elder , as well as contemporary international avant-garde movements. The group published a broadside called Programm der Künstlergruppe Brücke in 1906, where Kirchner wrote: "We call all young people together, and as young people, who carry
800-539: The show on 22 October, was represented by ten works. His works included Maison dans les arbres (no. 323), Portrait de Femme (no. 235) and Le Chemin tournant (no. 326). Van Dongen showed three works, Montmartre (492), Mademoiselle Léda (493) and Parisienne (494). André Derain exhibited 8 works, Westminster-Londres (438), Arbres dans un chemin creux (444) along with 5 works painted at l'Estaque . Camoin entered 5 works, Dufy 7, Friesz 4, Manguin 6, Marquet 8, Puy 10, Valtat 10, and Vlaminck
832-488: The summer of 1904, while he was in Saint-Tropez with Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross . After viewing the boldly colored canvases of Henri Matisse , André Derain , Albert Marquet , Maurice de Vlaminck , Kees van Dongen , Charles Camoin , Robert Deborne and Jean Puy at the Salon d'Automne of 1905, the critic Louis Vauxcelles disparaged the painters as " fauves " (wild beasts), thus giving their movement
864-857: The wild beasts ), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism . While Fauvism as a style began around 1904 and continued beyond 1910, the movement as such lasted only a few years, 1905–1908, and had three exhibitions. The leaders of the movement were André Derain and Henri Matisse . Besides Matisse and Derain, other artists included Robert Deborne , Albert Marquet , Charles Camoin , Bela Czobel , Louis Valtat , Jean Puy , Maurice de Vlaminck , Henri Manguin , Raoul Dufy , Othon Friesz , Adolphe Wansart , Georges Rouault , Jean Metzinger , Kees van Dongen , Émilie Charmy and Georges Braque (subsequently Picasso's partner in Cubism ). The paintings of
896-579: Was able to obtain an empty butcher's shop on the Berlinerstrasse in Friedrichstadt for their use as a studio. Bleyl described the studio as: Kirchner's studio became a venue which overthrew social conventions to allow casual love-making and frequent nudity. Group life-drawing sessions took place using models from the social circle, rather than professionals, and choosing quarter-hour poses to encourage spontaneity. Bleyl described one such model, Isabella,
928-420: Was my teacher, and Russell explained color theory to me." Russell had been a close friend of Vincent van Gogh and gave Matisse a Van Gogh drawing. In 1901, Maurice de Vlaminck encountered the work of Van Gogh for the first time at an exhibition, declaring soon after that he loved Van Gogh more than his own father; he started to work by squeezing paint directly onto the canvas from the tube. In parallel with
960-514: Was not a Fauve, but his large jungle scene The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope was exhibited near Matisse's work and may have had an influence on the pejorative used. Vauxcelles' comment was printed on 17 October 1905 in Gil Blas , a daily newspaper, and passed into popular usage. The pictures gained considerable condemnation—"A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public", wrote
992-450: Was one of two groups of German painters fundamental to Expressionism, the other being Der Blaue Reiter group ("The Blue Rider"), formed in Munich in 1911. The influence of the Brücke went far beyond its founding members. As a result, the style of a number of painters is associated to the Brücke, even if they were not formerly part of the group. As an example, French academician and art specialist, Maurice Rheims mentions Frédéric Fiebig as
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1024-554: Was represented by 7 works. Otto Mueller Otto Müller (16 October 1874 – 24 September 1930) was a German painter and printmaker of the Die Brücke expressionist movement. Mueller was born in Liebau (now Lubawka, Kamienna Góra County ), Kreis Landeshut , Silesia . Between 1890 and 1892 he was trained in lithography in Görlitz and Breslau . From 1894 to 1896 he studied at
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