The Brücke Artists: Pioneers of Expressionism
It was not painters or sculptors who brought about profound changes in art at the beginning of the 20th century, but architecture students: In 1905, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Fritz Bleyl, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel founded the artist group "Brücke" in Dresden, Germany. They turned away from the conservative academic doctrine and developed a fundamentally new artistic concept. The focus was no longer on the representational function of art. Instead, it was meant to convey the subjective feelings of the artists.
The essential features of the Brücke style include a radically reduced artistic form concept and vibrant colours. The Expressionism of the Brücke had a lasting impact on modern art and influenced many generations of artists in the 20th century.
The Evolution of the Brücke: From Dresden to Berlin
The history of the Brücke artist group began in Dresden shortly after the turn of the century. At the Dresden Technical University, the paths of architecture students Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Fritz Bleyl, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel crossed. Beyond their academic studies, these four shared a great interest in painting and lithography. However, they viewed the art of their time very critically and aimed for contemporary changes in style.
To provide an institutional framework for their artistic work, they founded "Brücke" in June 1905. Under this name, they rented shared studio spaces, organised the first exhibitions and recruited new members as well. Prominent members included Max Pechstein and Emil Nolde, who joined Brücke in 1906, as well as Otto Mueller, Kees van Dongen and Cuno Amiet, among others.
The first major joint exhibition of the Brücke artists opened its doors on September 24, 1906, in a lamp factory owned by Karl-Max Seifert. In 1911, the artist community moved from Dresden to Berlin. The capital city had already become a centre for contemporary art, offering more opportunities for the artists to exhibit and trade. It also provided new connections to other avant-garde artists who inspired and influenced the Brücke artists. Over the years, there was some fluctuation among the members, with Fritz Bleyl and Emilio leaving the group shortly after.
In 1913, the Brücke dissolved entirely, reportedly due to Kirchner's increasing sense of himself as the leader of the group and his condescending treatment of his colleagues. After its dissolution, all former Brücke members continued to work largely independently of each other.
The Art Was to Convey Subjective Experience
The four young architecture students from Dresden who would become pioneers of Expressionism had not all undergone any artistic training at an academy. Perhaps this allowed them to look at the art of their time with a particularly unbiased and critical perspective. They concluded that the traditional principles of painting and sculpture could not express what was important to them. The popular styles of the time, such as Impressionism and historical painting, still adhered closely to the realistic representation of the objectively visible.
The Brücke artists considered a naturalistic depiction based solely on superficial observations to be pointless. They rather sought to make visual art a tool for expressing their individual perceptions and emotions. In their works, the artists' passion should be immediately palpable, creating an emotional connection with the viewers. To achieve these goals, the Brücke artists sought new forms of artistic expression and questioned all existing formal rules.
However, unlike some other avant-garde movements like the "Blaue Reiter" with its almanac and comprehensive theoretical manifesto, the "Brücke" did not have such a manifesto. Their "programme" consisted of a 74 x 41-millimetre woodcut created by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The print read:
"Putting our faith in a new generation of creators and art lovers, we call upon all youth to unite. And being youth, the bearers of the future, we want to wrest from the comfortably established older generation freedom to live and move. Anyone who directly and honestly reproduces that force which impels him to create belongs to us."
Vibrant and Impulsive: The Style of the Brücke Artists
The stated goal of the Brücke artists' group was to depict life in all its facets, unadulterated and immediate, in their artworks. Expressionists broke new ground both creatively and thematically. In their imagery and artistic form concept, they radically departed from the naturalistic richness of detail of previous epochs. Instead, they reduced the forms and details of the pictorial objects to a few characteristic features. Additionally, they emphasised the contours of the pictorial objects by defining them very distinctively and separating them from each other with bold colour contrasts.
In terms of emotion, they often portrayed their subjects in an exaggerated and distorted way. They also rejected other traditional principles of painting, such as central perspective or spatially correct composition. They gave themselves the greatest possible creative freedom, placing all pictorial elements on an equal plane.
Furthermore, colours gained importance in expressionistic painting. They were no longer regarded merely as materials or tools but were given intrinsic value and were almost staged. The Brücke painters predominantly used intensive colours, applying them monochromatically in large areas.
Additionally, the artists broke free from the realistic assignment of colours to objects and coloured the subjects according to their feelings. With their progressive painting style, Expressionists often ventured into the borderland of other disciplines like Cubism, caricature, and abstraction.
In Terms of Motifs, the Brücke Artists Set New Priorities
In their choice of motifs, the Brücke artists placed emphasis on naturalness and authenticity, just as they did with the form of artistic expression. With depictions of nature, landscapes, and nudes, they celebrated life and freedom. They often drew inspiration from joint outings to the coasts of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea or to the Moritzburg Lakes.
After the Brücke artists moved to Berlin, urban scenes became more prominent in their works. With pictures of sophisticated societies, street scenes, dance halls and cabarets, they reflected the hustle and bustle of big city life. Under the influence of modernisation and the fast pace of life in the metropolis, the mood in the works of many Brücke artists darkened, and they increasingly addressed emotions such as loneliness and fear.
The Brücke Artists Changed the Creative Process
The Brücke painters not only developed a new imagery but also transformed the entire creative process. They often painted intuitively, impulsively, quickly and with broad brushstrokes, allowing them to immediately express their inspiration.
In addition to painting, another technique gained importance among the Expressionists: the woodcut. This centuries-old technique suited their philosophy very well. They could realise their creative goals very well in woodcuts by using bold contours, large areas, clear contrasts, and stylisation of the objects.
The Brücke Artists Group: A Milestone in Art History
The work of the Brücke artists is today considered one of the most important contributions to art history. Many years before the "Blaue Reiter" in Munich, the Brücke provided crucial impulses for the transformation of modern painting.
As it is often the case with avant-garde artists, the Brücke was initially seen as too progressive and provocative. Critics mainly condemned the art's perceived unnatural, discordant, and restless style ("a rape of the sensory world" - art critic Hermann Bahr, 1914). The frequent depictions of nudes were also controversial. Despite initial criticism, Expressionism found increasing support among contemporaries in the following years. For example, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner regularly participated in exhibitions in Germany and Switzerland during his lifetime and sold numerous works.
In the following decades, the revolutionary changes in Brücke art became established and influenced many other art movements worldwide. Styles such as Abstraction, Abstract Expressionism or Neo-Expressionism had their roots directly in the Expressionism of the Brücke.
Even in the present day, the works of Kirchner, Schmidt-Rottluff, Bleyl and Heckel continue to be highly popular. The originals of all Brücke artists are in high demand both in exhibitions and among collectors and are highly valued. Additionally, the "Brücke Museum" in Berlin, initiated by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff himself, is dedicated to the pioneers of Expressionism with its own exhibition space.