The Blue Rider in the Lenbachhaus, Munich: Masterpieces by Franz Marc, Vassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Munter, Alexei Jawlensky, August Macke, Paul Klee

English (translation)
Original German

This handsome book celebrates the collection of early-20th-century paintings in the Lenbachhaus in Munich by the Blue Rider, the name taken by a group of avant-garde artists led by Wassily Kandinsky in 1911. Their motivating force was a revolutionary "urge to abstraction." Even today, the intense colors and wild compositions of their paintings have a powerful impact; in their day they were sensational. In 1912 the group published an influential manifesto on the direction of modern art; it included articles on music and the arts of different cultures, especially primitive art, in an attempt to, in Kandinsky's words, "bring down the barriers between the arts." The story of the Blue Rider, told by the director and curator of the Lenbachhaus, re-creates the excitement of the passionate young painters as they expounded their theories. When Paul Klee explains his "discipline of reduction," his deceptively simple paintings suddenly take on new focus. Beginning with Kandinsky and ending with Klee, the book illustrates 129 paintings by members of the group. Extended captions give context to the individual artists and analyze their objectives; 60 vintage photos add visual background. A delightful phrase by Kandinsky describes the paintings in the Blue Rider's most momentous public exhibition and at the same time summarizes the importance of the group, before World War I tore it apart: "Together they are the symphony of the twentieth century." --John Stevenson