The Historic Museum Wiesbaden in Germany Is Toured By Our AKN Editor

Written by Victoria Friedberg Sunday, 02 January 2011 23:37

The exhibition "From the Blue Rider to Abstract Expressionism" is on view through 27 February, 2011.The exhibition at the Museum Wiesbaden, the development, formulation and continued those artistic positions of expressionism in the foreground that have in the center and close to the "Blauer Reiter" stood and worked stimulating to Abstract Expressionism. This particularly concerns the search for the "spiritual" in color and form of modern painting. A search that starts in France, culminating in Munich before the world war one and eventually sign on to the American Abstract Expressionist painting continues catchments. Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. Der Blaue Reiter was a German movement lasting from 1911 to 1914, fundamental to Expressionism, along with Die Brücke which was founded the previous decade in 1905. Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, Gabriele Münter, Lyonel Feininger, Albert Bloch and others founded the group in response to the rejection of Kandinsky's painting "Last Judgement" from an exhibition. Der Blaue Reiter lacked a central artistic manifesto, but was centered around Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Paul Klee was also involved. The name of the movement comes from a painting by Kandinsky created in 1903. It is also claimed that the name could have derived from Marc's enthusiasm for horses and Kandinsky's love of the color blue. For Kandinsky, blue is the color of spirituality: the darker the blue, the more it awakens human desire for the eternal. Within the group, artistic approaches and aims varied from artist to artist; however, the artists shared a common desire to express spiritual truths through their art. They believed in the promotion of modern art; the connection between visual art and music; the spiritual and symbolic associations of color; and a spontaneous, intuitive approach to painting. Members were interested in European medieval art and primitivism, as well as the contemporary, non-figurative art scene in France. As a result of their encounters with cubist, fauvist and Rayonist ideas, they also moved towards abstraction. Der Blaue Reiter organized exhibitions in 1911 and 1912 that toured Germany. They also published an almanac featuring contemporary, primitive and folk art, along with children's paintings. In 1913 they exhibited in the first German Herbstsalon. The group was disrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Franz Marc and August Macke were killed in combat. Wassily Kandinsky, Marianne von Werefkin and Alexej von Jawlensky were forced to move back to Russia because of their Russian citizenship. There were also differences in opinion within the group. As a result, Der Blaue Reiter was short-lived, lasting for only three years from 1911 to 1914. In 1923 Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, Klee and Alexej von Jawlensky formed Die Blaue Vier (the Blue Four) group, and exhibited and lectured together in the United States in 1924. An extensive collection of paintings by Der Blaue Reiter is exhibited in the Städtische Galerie in the Lenbachhaus in Munich. The Jawlensky Prize reminds the city of Wiesbaden on the life work of the great Russian painter who lived from 1921 until his death in 1941 in Wiesbaden, and was buried here in the Russian cemetery. Connected to the award is a monetary award, an exhibition at the Museum Wiesbaden and the purchase of a work of the winning artist. The Alexej von Jawlensky Prize is awarded every five years. For the first time it was 1991, the American painter Agnes Martin. In 1996, the international jury to the American painter Robert Mangold chose for the second prize winner. A third prize was juried in 2003, the American painter Brice Marden, of the award in 2004 at the opening of the exhibition "Jawlensky: My dear Galka" received. The exhibition of Brice Marden that was held in 2008. In the spring of 2007, Alexei von Jawlensky Prize awarded for the fourth time, this time on the multiple documenta-participant Rebecca Horn. The award ceremony on 17 March 2007, this time not only opened the exhibition associated with the prize, but also the mirror installation "Jupiter in the Octagon" was inaugurated, and remains on permanent view.

The recent extensive renovation of the Museum Wiesbaden has been completed for the most part. With 90 works by the Russian painter Alexej von Jawlensky, this museum has the most important collection of his works in Europe. During the renovation of this centrally located, three-wing museum building, which was erected from 1913 to 1915, the whole huge foyer was given an inviting, transparent and visitor-friendly ambience. Additional space was gained by adding a roof to the interior courtyards, which means that now 32 rooms with about 3,800 square meters are available to show art. The ingenious lighting system involving transparent glass ceilings of light make the balanced illumination of the artworks possible. In addition to the works of Jawlensky, installations, objects, sculptures and paintings from the latter half of the 20th century form the focal points of the art collection. The natural science collection comprises not only geological and mineral exhibits, but also exhibits of vertebrates, invertebrates and botanical exhibits. The collection of Nassovian antiquities include extensive items from the period of 200,000 B.C. to the end of the 19th century. Moreover, this museum regularly organizes noteworthy special exhibitions of international contemporary art and on themes of natural history. In the design of Theodor Fischer-building half of the picture gallery for the implementation of changing exhibitions was provided. In the 1920s and early 1930s, the Nassau Art Association where he developed a lively and interesting exhibitions. Also were made using the Wiesbaden citizens important collection additions to the field of classical modernism. Permanent loan they included numerous paintings of the Wiesbaden collector Heinrich Kirchhoff. After the Nazis seized power, all the paintings were confiscated from the world of expressionism (eg, Jawlensky, Klee) and the constructive position and removed. The collector Heinrich Kirchhoff had to cancel his long-term loans. By the Committee established under Hitler museum director Prof. Dr. Hermann Voss 1934-1944 were numerous Baroque paintings acquired and integrated into the museum collection. During World War II, the museum building was partly for military purposes. 1944 was a big part of the paintings to Pillnitz Castle near Dresden and in 1989 moved once again returned. After the war the museum was to Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point of Nazi confiscated treasures. Once here temporarily stored treasures - including the bust of Nefertiti and Rembrandt's Man with the Golden Helmet - had been returned to their rightful owners, in the 1950s and 1960s, with the most economical means a phase of the resettlement of the collections.