GROUP EXHIBITION

Across Germany’s major cities, a new generation of artists emerged between 1900 and 1918 to change the rules of painting. They were the German Expressionists.

Made up of two pioneering groups – Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) – these young artists painted raw emotions on canvas with a new intensity.

Die Brücke was formed by a group of self-taught artists. Rebelling against conservative society, they lived and worked together in the bohemian corners of Dresden and other cities, before moving to Berlin, Germany’s rapidly modernising capital. For them, colour became a way to defy tradition and express themselves in new ways.

Der Blaue Reiter came together in Munich around the painters Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter. The group divided their time between the bustling Munich streets and the lush landscapes around rural Murnau, 40 miles south of the city. There, the lakes and mountains fed their creative vision, full of bright colours and striking shapes.

An explosive moment of creative freedom, German Expressionism was forever changed by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, when artists left Germany or were drafted into the military. While their bold style left a strong legacy in 20th-century art, the paintings of this movement are lesser-known in Britain and Ireland, having often been overshadowed by their French contemporaries.

This major exhibition features over 50 German Expressionist works from all over the world. For the first time, it brings together the paintings of both Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter under the roof of the National Gallery.

Visit ‘German Expressionism: Modern Painting 1900–1918’ in 2027 and experience a transformational moment when art became modern.