Between War and Utopia: Prints and Drawings of the German Avant-Garde, 1905-1933

This exhibition of about 75 prints and drawings selected from the Museum's rich collections, many of which will be on view for the first time, traces the artistic development of some of the most influential artists working in Germany during the first decades of the twentieth century. It begins with works representing the romantic, utopian aspirations of the pre-war artist groups Brücke (Bridge) and Blauer Reiter (Blue Rider) whose members included Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Max Pechstein and Emil Nolde. Prints by Otto Dix, George Grosz and Max Beckmann demonstrate the dramatic changes in artistic sensibility due to the devastating impact of World War I. In the 1920s utopian idealism flourished anew in the protected environment of the Bauhaus where Kandinsky, Klee and Lionel Feininger worked as instructors, producing notable graphic works. The exhibition is organized by Catherina Lauer, Curatorial Intern in the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, working with John Ittmann, Curator of Prints.