A famous Dresden movement [1]
The art group The Bridge (Die Brücke[2]) (1905-1913)
In 1905 four architecture students Ernst Ludwig Kirchner [3], Erich Heckel [4], Karl Schmidt-Rottluff [5] and Fritz Bleyl [6] in Dresden founded the artist group The Bridge, which is the most important representative of German expressionism.
In 1906 Emil Nolde [7], Max Pechstein [8], the Swiss painter Cuno Amiet [9] and the Dutch Lambetus Zijl [10] joined the group and the first of seven annual collections were published. This was followed by numerous traveling exhibitions. In 1910 Otto Müller [11] joined, who had studied at the Academies in Dresden and Munich. Müller’s style had not much in common with the bright color of The Bridge, but his attitude to life and art connected him closely with the other artists.
In a butcher shop in a Dresden working-class neighborhood they worked together in every day subjects: Landscape, street scenes, portraits, studio scenes and nudes. In the summer months the artists split up in order to use their experiences together in Dresden. They paintings were meant to bring art and life in harmony.
The young painters found their role models through exhibitions in Dresden: van Gogh [12] in 1905, Munch [13], Nolde [14], Seurat [15], Gauguin [16] and van Gogh in 1906, further van Gogh in 1908. Another source of inspiration were wood figures and masks from the South Seas [17], which Kirchner had discovered in the ethnology museum in Dresden.
In their paintings the color departed away from the nature and became a pure expression of emotion：vivid and impulsive. The tradition perspective and the academy proportion were abandoned, in order to work impulsively and spontaneously.
In six years working together the artists developed so strongly that the works in the group were not necessary. At first Pechstein moved out. In 1913 the group disbanded and the artists were working individually.
In 1933 all of members were defamed as “degenerate” by Nazi; their paintings were removed from museums, sold or burnt.
[1]. Translated by me from p. 222. Eine berühmte Dresdner Bewegung Die Künstlergruppe Die Brücke. Stationen. Ein Kursbuch für die Mittelstufe, 3rd Edition, Prisca Augustyn & Nikolaus Euba, Cengage Learning, USA, 2015
[2]. The Bridge (Die Brücke): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Br%C3%BCcke
[3]. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner
[4]. Erich Heckel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner
[5]. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Schmidt-Rottluff
[6]. Fritz Bleyl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Bleyl
[7]. Emil Nolde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Nolde
[8]. Max Pechstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Pechstein
[9]. Cuno Amiet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuno_Amiet
[10]. Lambetus Zijl: https://gallerease.com/en/artists/lambertus-zijl__9a7ac75ce961
[11]. Otto Müller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_M%C3%BCller_(painter)
[12]. van Gogh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
[13]. Munch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch
[14]. Nolde: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Nolde
[15]. Seurat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Seurat
[16]. Gauguin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Gauguin
[17]. South Seas: In the middle of the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony, about 2 km from the beautiful Heath village of Wietzendorf, you will find one of the most beautiful campsites in Germany. From Google search.
