Product Description

"Anyone who directly and genuinely renders what drives him to create is one of us," proclaimed the manifesto of Die Brucke (The Bridge), a close-knit group of artists who first met in Dresden in 1905. Its founding members were four Jugendstil architecture students: Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Eschewing the contemporary academic styles and subjects, these four artists instead looked to their German art heritage to make "a bridge" with the past, favoring such artists as Albrecht Durer, Matthias Grunewald and Lucas Cranach the Elder. They also drew on Fauvist and Primitivist art in their quest for unhindered expression and, with this combination of resources, propelled German art into the twentieth century. In works by Die Brucke, color diverged from nature and became a record of emotion; forms were radically simplified, or exaggerated and distorted; bohemian subject matter argued for a Socialist politics. Their nudes, landscapes and urban scenes--featuring depictions of dances, cabarets, cafes and the sorts of street encounters that were typical of Berlin in the years after 1911--are among the greatest works produced by early-twentieth-century artists. Containing important paintings, sculptures and prints by Heckel, Kirchner, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, this invaluable volume is a definitive record of the birth of Expressionism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193101 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-01
• Released on: 2009-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

The burst of raw color into German art
The catalogue for the current exhibition held at the Neue Galerie in NYC, the first ever devoted to this key movement of German Expressionism in the United States, this book is a thorough study of the historical and social context that surrounded the birth of a new kind of painting in Germany (Dresden and Berlin first and foremost) during the early years of the XXth century. Centered on the work of Kirchner, Schmidt-Rottluff, Pechstein and Heckel, it starts with some interesting essays on the conflict that arose among German artists at the time, between nationalistic ideas (deeply rooted in Prussian militarism) and international influences (especially French, with the active promotion of the art dealer Cassirer). It also studies the reception of the artists from the Brücke in the United States among art historians and critics (stressing the relative neglect the group was held into until the 1970's), as well as the canonical roots of their art (Dürer, Cranach and Grünewald).

As usual with publications emanating from the Neue Galerie, this book is full of previously unpublished documents and high-quality illustrations and I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in German Expressionism.

Beauty, As Defined By The Printed Page
My main complaint about this book is that it so beautifully illustrates an exhibit I was unable to attend! This is a gorgeous production with wonderful plates, copious illustrations and intelligent text. It's nice to see the KG Brücke distilled from the catch-all miasma of Expressionism.

Unfortunately, for such an obvious labor of love, this volume needs an errata sheet for some pretty glaring proofing errors. What I've caught so far:

(p. 139, pl. 12) "Two Young Women" is incorrectly attributed to Erich Heckel, though when used as an illustration in Jill Lloyd's essay (p. 67, fig. 13) it is correctly listed as being by Hermann Max Pechstein. This error is then compounded in the index.

(p. 153, pls. 29 & 30) The two paintings on this page have their makers mixed up. "Country House in Osterholm" is clearly signed "Schmidt-Rottluff". A closer look at "River Landscape with Bridge and Train" reveals an "H" in the lower left corner. This double error also makes it into the index.

(p. 188, pl. 82) The pastel "Dodo in the Studio" is a reversed image. Unless "E. L. Kirchner" was in the habit of signing his work in mirror writing, which he wasn't.

(p. 195, pl. 99) The image of the print "Old Houses in Dresden" is also flipped. The lithographic signature "Schmidt-Rottluff" should be in mirror writing, not the pencilled signature on the actual print.

This may sound like pithy squabbling, but really, it's much greater than any "gotcha" typo you might find in my little review.

None of this, though, is enough to detract from a 5-star rating for this volume. It's easily the most amazing addition to my personal library of art books in several years. If you don't add this to your own shelves, you are guaranteed to be that much poorer for the lack thereof.

valuable overview of Brucke movement
"Brucke" was the name of an association formed by four architectural students with the primary aim of holding group art exhibitions. They were also bound by a common utopian idealism and a rejection of the conventions of bourgeois life. Brucke was formed in 1905 and disbanded in 1913. Its foremost members were Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Max Pechstein and Karl Schmidt-Rottloff.

This book is a catalogue of an exhibition held at the Neue Gallerie in 2009. The informative essays give a wide ranging overview of the Brucke movement. There is discussion of the various influences that helped shape these artist's creations. These included primitive African and Oceanic art, van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Cranach and Durer.

The exhibition featured 111 paintings, sculptures, lithographs and woodcuts; of these 39 were by Kirchner. His works, including some interesting sculptures, stand head and shoulders above those of his colleagues. His style, contrary to the others, had reached relative maturity by 1910. This is fortunate, given that Kirchner suffered a nervous collapse in 1915 and never regained his previous creative powers.

As mentioned before, the level of artistic excellence of the other artists, as seen in this exhibition, pales before the greatness of Kirchner. While worth examining, many of the works are less accomplished and lack maturity. It appears that the Brucke Museum in Berlin withdrew their participation in this exhibition. This might explain the lesser quality of the works acquired from other sources.

This book is warmly recommended to those interested in German Expressionist art. As usual with publications from the Neue Gallerie, it is expertly produced and the reproductions are of a superior standard.