Paula Modersohn-Becker. Self-Portrait with an Amber Necklace, 1906.Oil on convas, 62.2 x 48.2 cm. Basel, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum

German Expressionism

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Girl Under a Japanese Parasol. c. 1909Oil on canvas, 92.5 x 80.5 cm.Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf

The Bridge to the FutureDie Brücke (The Bridge) was the first of two Expressionist movements that emerged in Germany in the early decades of the 20th century. In 1905 a group of German Expressionist artists came together in Dresden and took that name chosen by Schmidt-Rottluff to indicate their faith in the art of the future, towards which their work would serve as a bridge. In practice they were not a cohesive group, and their art became an angst-ridden type of Expressionism. The achievement that had the most lasting value was their revival of graphic arts, in particular, the woodcut using bold and simplified forms.

The artists of Die Brücke drew inspiration from van Gogh, Gauguin and primitive art. Munch was also a strong influence, having exhibited his art in Berlin from 1892. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), the leading spirit of Die Brücke, wanted German art to be a bridge to the future. He insisted that the group, which included Erich Heckel (1883-1970) and Karl Schmidt-Rottluf (1884-1976), ``express inner convictions... with sincerity and spontaneity''.

Die Brücke (The Bridge)

Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Self-Portrait with Model. 1910/1926.Oil on canvas,150.4 x 100 cm (59 1/4 x 39 3/8 in.).Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Two Women in the Street. 1914.Oil on canvas, 120.5 x 91 cm.Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf

Erich Heckel. Red Houses. 1908.

Erich Heckel. A Crystal Day. 1913.Oil on canvas, 120 x 96 cm. Pinakothekder Moderne, Munich

Emil Nolde. Wildly Dancing Children. 1909.Oil on canvas, 73 x 88 cm.Kunsthalle Kiel

Emil Nolde. Dance Around the Golden Calf. 1910.Oil on canvas, 88 x 105.5 cm.Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, Munich

Emil Nolde. Mask Still Life III. 1911.Oil on canvas, 74 x 78 cm.Nelson Gallery of Art, Atkins-Museum, Kansas City

Wassily Kandinsky. The Blue Rider. 1903. Oil on canvas. 55 x 65 cm. Private collection.

The second major German Expressionist movement, The Blue Rider (or in German Der Blaue Reiter) was established in Munich in December 1911 by Kandinsky, Marc and Gabriele Münter.

Painters Kandinsky and Marc worked on an almanac in which they showed their artistic conceptions. The title of the almanac, which then became the name of the group, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), came from the painting by Kandinsky. His Blaue Reiter ( Blue Rider ) was an adventure in the simplification and stylization of forms and the connection between music and painting.

The Blue Riders believed that colors, shapes and forms had equivalence with sounds and music, and sought to create color harmonies which would be purifying to the soul. Although in this very earliest works, the impressionistic influence was recognizable, the artists who took part in The Blue Rider were considered to be the pioneers of abstract art or abstract expressionism. Their work promoted individual expression and broke free from any artistic restraints. They were influenced by Nietzsche's exhortation that those who would be creative must first destroy accepted values.

The first exhibitions of The Blue Rider included works by Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Henri Rousseau, Robert Delaunay, and Arnold Schönberg. These artists, who early in their careers broke from the mainstream, were later to become the driving force behind modern art as we know it today.

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)

Wassily Kandinsky. Improvisation 7. 1910.Oil on canvas, 131 x 97 cm.Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Wassily Kandinsky. Composition IV. 1911.Oil on canvas, 159.5 x 250.5 cm (62 7/8 x 98 5/8 in).Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen, Düsseldorf

Wassily Kandinsky. Composition V. 1911.Oil on canvas, 190 x 275 cm (6' 3 7/8" x 9' 1/4"). Private collection

Wassily Kandinsky. Composition VI. 1913.Oil on canvas, 195 x 300 cm (6' 4 3/4" x 10').Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Wassily Kandinsky. Composition VII. 1913.Oil on canvas, 200 x 300 cm (6' 6 3/4" x 9' 11 1/8").Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Wassily Kandinsky. Composition VIII. 1923Oil on canvas, 140 x 201 cm (55 1/8 x 79 1/8 in).Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Wassily Kandinsky. Composition X. 1939.Oil on canvas, 130 x 195 cm (51 1/8 x 76 3/4 in).Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Franz Marc. Blue Horse I (Blaues Pferd I).1911Oil on canvas, 112.5 x 84.5 cm.Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

Franz Marc. Tiger. 1912.Oil on canvas, 111 x 111.5 cm.Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

Franz Marc. Three Cats. 1913.Oil on canvas, 72 x 102 cm.Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf

Paul Klee. Hermitage. 1918. Watercolor on chalk ground. 18.3 x 25.4 cm. Paul Klee Foundation, Kunstmuseum, Berne, Switzerland.

Paul Klee. Nocturnal Festivity. 1921. Oil on board. 50 x 61 cm. The Solomon R. Guggebheim Museum, New York

Paul Klee. Senecio. 1922. Oil on gauze. 40.5 x 38 cm. Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Paul Klee. Drawn One. 1935. Gauze. 30.5 x 27.5 cm. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany

Oskar Kokoschka. Die Windsbraut (The tempest). 1914.Oil on canvas, 181 x 220 cm (71 1/4 x 86 5/8 in.). Kunstmuseum Basel

Egon Schiele. The Truth Unveiled. 1913Gouache, watercolor and pencil on off-white wave paper,19 x 12 5/8 in. (48.3 x 32.1 cm).Private collection

Max Beckmann. Party in Paris. 1931 (reworked 1947).Oil on canvas, 43 x 69 in.The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Max Beckmann. Beginning. 1949.Oil on canvas, Triptych: Center panel, 69 x 59"Side panels, 65 x 33 1/4"Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York