From a Window of the Griesbräu
Murnau – Johannisstrasse from a Window of the Griesbräu, 1908
Wassily Kandinsky
Oil paint on cardboard
Kandinsky returned to Germany after touring Europe and North Africa for four years. The tranquillity of Murnau allowed Kandinsky to experiment more freely as he moved towards abstract painting. For Kandinsky, abstracted forms are associated with expressions of spirituality rather than the 'purposeless' realism of academic paintings. Enchanted by Murnau's sub-Alpine landscape he started painting outside, transforming the scenery into a series of simplified shapes. He adopts bold, saturated colour responding to recognisable features of the local landscape and architecture in the free and spontaneous manner of his early fairy-tale works.*
Murnau, a rural town in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps by the shores of the Staffelsee lake, became a place of artistic exchange and inspiration for the Blue Rider artists. Münter and Kandinsky first visited with Werefkin and Jawlensky for a summer open air sketching holiday in 1908. In 1909, Münter purchased a house there, alternating with Kandinsky between the city and the country. Fellow artists Marc and Franck-Marc settled in the neighbouring town of Sindelsdorf and later, Kochel. In 1910, August and Elisabeth Macke moved to nearby Tegernsee. Murnau became a site of creative collaboration that laid the foundations of the NKVM and the Blue Rider. The artists embraced a country lifestyle, swimming in the lake and skiing in the mountains. They also designed their own garden, growing a vegetable patch and using the produce for the household and their guests.
The artists engaged with local arts and crafts, including reverse glass painting. This method consists of painting pictures on the back of a clear glass panel. Viewed from the opposite side of the glass, the colours appear bold and reminiscent of enamels. Münter was the first to learn the technique, later stating that ‘the traditional reverse glass painting which used to flourish around the Staffelsee had a lasting influence on me with its strong colours in black outlines and its carefree decorative designs.’
In Murnau, Kandinsky experimented with the local landscape, simplifying his forms and producing his first non-figurative paintings. Münter forged her own radical approach to figuration ‘intuiting the content, abstracting, presenting the essence’. Werefkin found a spiritual affinity with the environment that fuelled her return to easel painting.*
From the exhibition
Expressionists Kandinsky, Münter and The Blue Rider
(April – October 2024)
Explore the groundbreaking work of a circle of friends and close collaborators known as The Blue Rider. In the early 20th century they came together to form, in their own words, ‘a union of various countries to serve one purpose’ – to transform modern art. The artists rallied around Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter to experiment with colour, sound and light, creating bold and vibrant art.
Expressionists is a story of friendships told through art. It examines the highly individual creatives that made up The Blue Rider, from Franz Marc’s interest in colour to Alexander Sacharoff’s freestyle performance. The women artists played a central role in the movement. Discover experimental photographs by Gabriele Münter alongside the dramatic paintings of Marianne Werefkin.
[*Tate Modern]
Taken in the Tate Modern
From a Window of the Griesbräu
Murnau – Johannisstrasse from a Window of the Griesbräu, 1908
Wassily Kandinsky
Oil paint on cardboard
Kandinsky returned to Germany after touring Europe and North Africa for four years. The tranquillity of Murnau allowed Kandinsky to experiment more freely as he moved towards abstract painting. For Kandinsky, abstracted forms are associated with expressions of spirituality rather than the 'purposeless' realism of academic paintings. Enchanted by Murnau's sub-Alpine landscape he started painting outside, transforming the scenery into a series of simplified shapes. He adopts bold, saturated colour responding to recognisable features of the local landscape and architecture in the free and spontaneous manner of his early fairy-tale works.*
Murnau, a rural town in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps by the shores of the Staffelsee lake, became a place of artistic exchange and inspiration for the Blue Rider artists. Münter and Kandinsky first visited with Werefkin and Jawlensky for a summer open air sketching holiday in 1908. In 1909, Münter purchased a house there, alternating with Kandinsky between the city and the country. Fellow artists Marc and Franck-Marc settled in the neighbouring town of Sindelsdorf and later, Kochel. In 1910, August and Elisabeth Macke moved to nearby Tegernsee. Murnau became a site of creative collaboration that laid the foundations of the NKVM and the Blue Rider. The artists embraced a country lifestyle, swimming in the lake and skiing in the mountains. They also designed their own garden, growing a vegetable patch and using the produce for the household and their guests.
The artists engaged with local arts and crafts, including reverse glass painting. This method consists of painting pictures on the back of a clear glass panel. Viewed from the opposite side of the glass, the colours appear bold and reminiscent of enamels. Münter was the first to learn the technique, later stating that ‘the traditional reverse glass painting which used to flourish around the Staffelsee had a lasting influence on me with its strong colours in black outlines and its carefree decorative designs.’
In Murnau, Kandinsky experimented with the local landscape, simplifying his forms and producing his first non-figurative paintings. Münter forged her own radical approach to figuration ‘intuiting the content, abstracting, presenting the essence’. Werefkin found a spiritual affinity with the environment that fuelled her return to easel painting.*
From the exhibition
Expressionists Kandinsky, Münter and The Blue Rider
(April – October 2024)
Explore the groundbreaking work of a circle of friends and close collaborators known as The Blue Rider. In the early 20th century they came together to form, in their own words, ‘a union of various countries to serve one purpose’ – to transform modern art. The artists rallied around Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter to experiment with colour, sound and light, creating bold and vibrant art.
Expressionists is a story of friendships told through art. It examines the highly individual creatives that made up The Blue Rider, from Franz Marc’s interest in colour to Alexander Sacharoff’s freestyle performance. The women artists played a central role in the movement. Discover experimental photographs by Gabriele Münter alongside the dramatic paintings of Marianne Werefkin.
[*Tate Modern]
Taken in the Tate Modern