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39-630: Much of what is considered by many art historians to be the true peak of German expressionist art occurred in the first decades of the twentieth century just prior to World War I. German expressionism of that period noted for its humourless and vicious criticism of the German government and upper classes, and was dominated by two major artistic groups known as Die Brücke (The Bridge), which was highly critical of Germany's increasingly imperialistic aggression and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), which focused much of its commentary on industrialization's impact on

78-932: A woodcarver and illustrator in Flensburg , and worked in furniture factories as a young adult. He spent his years of travel in Munich , Karlsruhe and Berlin .In 1889, he gained entrance into the School of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe. He was a drawing instructor at the school of the Museum of Industrial and Applied Arts ( Industrie- und Gewerbemuseum ; today the Textilmuseum , or Textile Museum) in St. Gallen , Switzerland, from 1892 to 1898. He eventually left this job to finally pursue his dream of becoming an independent artist. As

117-643: A German-Jewish refugee whose heirs, including a Holocaust survivor, are asking for its return. The Swedish government decided in 2007 that the museum must settle with the heirs. Deutsch was forced to flee Germany before World War II and left for Amsterdam in late 1938 or early 1939. The painting was sold to the Swedish museum at an auction in Switzerland , where it had resurfaced in 1967. In 2015, Nolde's Maiwiese (Maienwiese) [Meadow in May ], 1915, (Inv. Nr. 94)

156-676: A child he had loved to paint and draw, but he was already 31 by the time he pursued this new career. When he was rejected by the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1898, he spent the next three years taking private painting classes, visiting Paris, and becoming familiar with the contemporary impressionist scene that was popular at this time. He married Danish actress Ada Vilstrup in 1902, and moved to Berlin, where he would meet collector Gustav Schiefler and artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff , both of whom would advocate his work later in life. From that year, he named himself after his birthplace. He became

195-524: 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,

234-552: A member of the revolutionary expressionist group Die Brücke (The Bridge), of Dresden , in 1906, upon the group's invitation. This association lasted only until the end of the following year. He was a member of the Berlin Secession from 1908 to 1910, but was then excluded owing to a disagreement with the leadership. In Berlin, Nolde was strongly influenced by the collections of the Völkerkundemuseum in what

273-485: 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

312-640: A relatively small part of Nolde's artistic oeuvre, he considered some to be "milestones" with respect to his progression as an artist. Nolde, who grew up a farmer's son in a small, religious community near the German-Danish border, was left with lasting impressions of Judeo-Christian stories after reading the Bible in its entirety. In his early religious works (1900–1904), he was unable to solidify his own style and distinguish himself from several role models, Jean-François Millet and Honoré Daumier . 1906

351-601: The Gestapo and their paintings burned in the streets. Many artists considered lost their jobs at universities and museums and were forbidden from painting under threat of imprisonment. The few Jewish members, like the Brazilian-Lithuanian artist Segall, faced particularly harsh persecution and quickly emigrated from Germany; Segall himself moved to Brazil. Die Br%C3%BCcke Die Brücke ( The Bridge ), also known as Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke ,

390-614: The Hermitage Museum , Saint Petersburg, Russia; and Prophet (1921) and Young Couple (1913) at the Museum of Modern Art , New York City. His most important print, The Prophet (1912), is an icon of 20th-century art. Among his most important oils are Lesende junge Frau (1906), Blumengarten (ohne Figur) (1908), and Blumen und Wolken (1933). Other important works: In recent years, Nolde's paintings have achieved prices of several million US dollars, in auctions conducted by

429-503: The Novembergruppe . The works of this new generation of disillusioned artists placed a much greater emphasis on political and social reformation through pacifistic means. Rather than adopting the nihilistic social criticism and cynicism of their Die Brücke predecessors, these new expressionist would instead rally around optimistic and utopian beliefs that a happier world built on the ideal of peaceful coexistence could emerge from

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468-417: The "Unpainted Pictures". In 1942, Nolde wrote: There is silver blue, sky blue and thunder blue. Every color holds within it a soul, which makes me happy or repels me, and which acts as a stimulus. To a person who has no art in him, colors are colors, tones tones...and that is all. All their consequences for the human spirit, which range between heaven to hell, just go unnoticed. After World War II , Nolde

507-703: 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

546-562: The German New Guinea Expedition, visiting the South Seas , Moscow , Siberia , Korea , Japan , and China . The Schiefler catalogue raisonné of his prints describes 231 etchings , 197 woodcuts , 83 lithographs , and four hectographs . He named a wartime series of 1300 works in watercolor on Japanese paper " Unpainted Paintings ", made in the shadow of Hitler's decree. Although religious images make up

585-790: The Nazi Regime, Berlin National Gallery, 2019) examined Nolde's self-professed Nazi leanings, and the tendency of postwar art historians to downplay them. He died in Seebüll , now part of Neukirchen , in 1956. The Nolde Stiftung Seebüll (The Nolde Foundation at Seebull) was created the same year and opened a museum dedicated to his life and work in 1957. Apart from paintings, Nolde's work includes many prints, often in color, and watercolor paintings of varied subjects (landscapes, religious images, flowers, stormy seas and scenes from Berlin nightlife). A famous series of paintings covers

624-761: The Nazi regime officially condemned Nolde's work. Until that time he had been held in great esteem in Germany. A total of 1,052 of his works were removed from museums, more than those of any other artist. Some were included in the Entartete Kunst exhibition of 1937, despite his protests, including (later) a personal appeal to Nazi Gauleiter Baldur von Schirach in Vienna. He was not allowed to paint—even in private—after 1941. Nevertheless, during this period he created hundreds of watercolors, which he hid. He called them

663-724: The carnage and it was not until peace returned in 1918 that a second generation of young German expressionists, many having endured the war through their late teens to early twenties, congregated into a variety of artistic movements opposing the violence of war. In 1918, Conrad Felixmüller moved to Dresden, where he became the founder and chairman of the group. During his activities in Germany's progressive art and youth movements, Felixmüller worked for various newspapers including Die Sichel in Regensburg and Rote Erde in Hamburg ). The Dresdner Sezessionists were heavily influenced by many of

702-431: The early 20th century to explore color. He is known for his brushwork and expressive choice of colors. Golden yellows and deep reds appear frequently in his work, giving a luminous quality to otherwise somber tones. His watercolors include vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals. Nolde's intense preoccupation with the subject of flowers reflected his interest in the art of Vincent van Gogh . Even though his art

741-541: 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

780-428: 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,

819-432: 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

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858-417: 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

897-487: The leading international auction houses. On 8 February 2012, Blumengarten (ohne Figur) was sold by Sotheby's in London for US$ 3,272,673. Nolde's work has become the focus of renewed attention after a painting entitled Blumengarten (Utenwarf) from 1917, which now hangs in the art museum Moderna Museet , Stockholm , Sweden, and has been valued at US$ 4 million, was discovered to have been looted from Otto Nathan Deutsch ,

936-499: The natural world. But the European war brought about the collapse of European society and the major art groups were swiftly broken up and scattered by the onset of the first world war. Those artists who failed to flee Europe found themselves conscripted to the front lines and many important artist such as Franz Marc and August Macke were killed in the trenches. During the war, European art seemed to take an unofficial hiatus amongst

975-407: The only Latvian painter who was really part of the Brücke expressionist movement, although he was not necessarily conscious of it. Emil Nolde Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen ; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German-Danish painter and printmaker . He was one of the first Expressionists , a member of Die Brücke , and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of

1014-495: The other contemporary German art movements of their day. Many of the members kept a close eye on the flourishing avant-garde art movements such as the Dadaists . Artists like Dix adopted and appropriated many traits of dada such as the use of collage compositions into his own expressionistic style. Many founding members including Felixmüller, Dix and Schubert were active in a variety of other socially conscious, incendiary groups such

1053-572: 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

1092-508: The ruins of 1918. This dream however would die with the advent of World War II and the rise of the Third Reich in the decades to come. Even though the group was officially dissolved in 1925 due to financial difficulties, the members would continue to have active and relatively successful political and artistic careers until the 1930s-40s when many were considered "Degenerates" by the newly formed Nazi Government and declared enemies of

1131-452: The state. Under antimodernist Alfred Rosenberg , many forms of modern art including Impressionism, Abstract, Cubism , Dada and Expressionism were declared illegal in the German state in preference for more realistic classical styles. This legislation led to an aggressive and oppressive smear campaign in order to curb and stamp out modern art. Suddenly Felixmüller, Dix and the rest of the former secessionists found their studios being raided by

1170-558: 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

1209-507: Was a turning point for Nolde when he shifted from an impressionistic style to a depiction of religious themes that emphasized the emotion of the moment, use of bright colors and only two dimensions of representation. This new devotion to religious artwork was hastened by a near death experience in 1909 after drinking poisoned water at the age of 42. After 1911 Nolde's religious treatments—now including etchings—became darker and more ominous in tone than his previous works. Even his wife, Ada,

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1248-596: 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,

1287-605: Was able to support himself through his art. Nolde was a supporter of the National Socialist German Workers' Party from the early 1920s, having become a member of its Danish section. He expressed anti-semitic, negative opinions about Jewish artists, and considered Expressionism to be a distinctively Germanic style. This view was shared by some other members of the Nazi party, notably Joseph Goebbels and Fritz Hippler . However, Adolf Hitler rejected all forms of modernism as " degenerate art ", and

1326-700: Was included in the Entartete Kunst exhibition of 1937, Nolde was a racist, anti-semite and a staunch supporter of Nazi Germany. Emil Nolde was born as Hans Emil Hansen, near the village of Nolde (since 1920 part of the municipality of Burkal in Southern Jutland , Denmark ), in the Prussian Duchy of Schleswig . He grew up on a farm. His parents, devout Protestants, were Danish and Frisian peasants. He realized his unsuitability for farm life, and that he and his three brothers were not at all alike. Between 1884 and 1891, he studied to become

1365-612: Was named after the group. 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,

1404-450: Was once again honoured, receiving the Pour le Mérite . While acknowledging his success as a brilliant colourist, greater awareness of Nolde's commitment to Nazism and a discussion of the relationship between his politics, denunciation of non-Jewish adversaries as Jews, and his art is considered in more recent scholarship. A recent exhibition ( Emile Nolde: A German Legend, The Artist during

1443-450: 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

1482-559: Was then Königgrätzer Straße, which he visited repeatedly and where he made over 120 drawings of exhibits from the Global South. His studies resulted in works such as Man, Woman and Cat (1912), in which Nolde depicted King Njoya 's throne “Mandu Yenu”, which came to Germany from Cameroon under controversial circumstances, only slightly altered. He exhibited with Wassily Kandinsky 's Munich-based group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in 1912; by this time he had achieved some fame, and

1521-403: Was unnerved by his bold vision. In response to his nine-part The Life of Christ , she wrote in a letter: "For the first few days I was only able to take a furtive peek now and then, so strong was the effect." Nolde's work is exhibited at major museums around the world, including Portrait of a Young Woman and a Child , Portrait of a Man (c. 1926), and Portrait of a Young Girl (1913–1914) at

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