Before the pandemic, Munich’s Lenbachhaus pitched an idea to the Tate: Why not share the crown jewels of each other’s collections in several special exhibitions? This is how Germany is staging its first major JMW Turner exhibition in 70 years, while the Tate Modern is about to host its first exhibition of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) artists since the 1960s. .
“This is an incredibly sustainable way of working,” said curator Natalia Sidlina. Expressionists: Kandinsky, Mutter and the Blaue Reiter. “Whether it’s a collaboration or an environment, because most of the works come from one place, we’re able to do in-depth curation and research with experts on both sides.”
One of the aims of the London exhibition is to show that there were more than just star, lone male artists of the early modernist period. “We often associate it with well-known figures such as Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, etc., but rarely pay attention to collective practice,” Sidelina said. This is perhaps why Der Blaue Reiter (a progressive group of German Expressionist artists that originated in Munich in 1909) is not well known in the UK. “We are trying to change this by showing Kandinsky’s work, for example, which incorporated a richer and more complex way of working,” Sidelina said. “We are therefore exploring his collaborations with performance artists, composers and musicians; his interest in photography, influenced by Gabriele Münter; his commitment to color, influenced by Franz Marc and Robert Delaunay The influence of other artists; and more.”
Marianne from Werefkin’s Dancer Alexander Sacharov (1909) Marianne Welfkin Foundation; Municipal Museum of Modern Art; Ascona
The exhibition will open with Kandinsky and Mutter and follow their exchange and collaboration in Munich with other like-minded artists from Europe and the United States. It will explore the issues at the heart of their creative experimentation – spirit, sound, light, color – and culminate with the legacy of the Blaue Reiter artists and their lasting influence. “The difference between the Blaue Reiter and many other modernist groups is that it was not actually a group,” Sidelina said. “There is no membership, no manifesto, no program, no exhibition criteria. We are talking about people allied through friendship, close cooperation and common pursuits.”
Franz Mark tiger (1912) Lenbachhaus, Munich, gift from the Bernhard and Elly Koehler Foundation, 1965
As a result, the collective attracts a wide range of artists, performers, musicians and poets – the age gap between the oldest and youngest is 27 years – and produces a variety of bold and dynamic works.At Tate Modern, alongside familiar works such as Mark’s “Alive Fiercely” tiger (1912) will feature works by lesser-known artists such as his partner Maria Franck-Marc, as well as Marianne Werefkin, who London audiences may remember from Dazzling paintings at Royal Academy’s all-female exhibition create modernism 2022.
“Of course, a large group performance like this Expressionist Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, there have been many exhibitions that introduced audiences to individual artists or specific places and locations,” said Sidelina. “It was important for us to bring all these narratives on the same page and see what each artist brings to the conversation of creative experimentation and how this makes Blue Rider the first cross-cultural European Modernist Group.”
• Expressionists: Kandinsky, Mutter and Blaue Reiter, Tate Modern, London, April 25-October 20
