Erfurt Art Association

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The Erfurter Kunstverein was founded in 1886 as an association for arts and crafts in Erfurt . In the years of the Weimar Bauhaus and later the Dessau Bauhaus , works by Lyonel Feininger , Paul Klee , Wassily Kandinsky and artists from the Dresden artist group Die Brücke such as Erich Heckel and Otto Mueller were shown in numerous exhibitions . Their works found their way into the association's collections linked to the municipal museum . As a result, the Erfurt Art Association became one of the most important arenas for classical modernism and modern museum work in Germany in the 1920s and early 30s .

In 1937 the Erfurt modern art collections were confiscated as "degenerate" . After 1945 the club's activities were completely stopped. It was not until 1990 that the “Erfurter Kunstverein e. V. ”with reference to the historical roots. Today it is based in the Kunsthalle Erfurt .

history

A “Thuringian Art Association” had already been founded in Erfurt in 1851, but it was only after the opening of the Municipal Museum on June 27, 1886 that the association began to work for many years. Both associations are closely associated with the name of the painter Eduard von Hagen (1834–1909). He brokered the artistic estate of Friedrich von Nerly to the city of Erfurt and thus laid the foundation stone for the picture gallery of the municipal museum in Erfurt and was the driving force behind the founding of the art association on December 1, 1886.

The seat of the art association was the early 18th century baroque building of the former Kurmainzischen "Pack- und Waagehof" at Anger 18, on whose first floor the municipal picture collection was set up in June 1886. On June 15, 1887, the Kunstverein opened its first year-round permanent exhibition with works by 42 artists. In addition to artists from the Weimar painting school such as Karl Buchholz and Theodor Hagen , artists such as Ferdinand Konrad Bellermann , Louis Douzette , Martin Schauß and Leopold von Kalckreuth were also represented . Further year-round permanent exhibitions called “permanent” followed in a continuous sequence until 1914. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the Kunstverein also presented special exhibitions, some of which had a very high number of exhibits: the “1. Art painting exhibition ”of the association of“ associations connected to the west of the Elbe ”, which was shown in Erfurt in autumn 1888, comprised around 700 works. An exhibition by the Dresden artist group Die Brücke took place in Erfurt as early as 1908 .

In 1920 Walter Kaesbach became director of the municipal museum in Erfurt. He was an important promoter of the art of expressionism and was acquainted with Walter Gropius , the director of the Bauhaus , and with Edwin Redslob . Kaesbach made an outstanding contribution to the national awareness of the museum. During his time as secretary of the Kunstverein, the number of members increased to over 1,000. In the summer of 1920, the Kunstverein was able to set up its own domicile, the “Kunstverein-Heim”. For this purpose, the courtyard building at Anger 18, which was previously used as a warehouse, was converted into a heated clubhouse. On May 7, 1920, the city of Erfurt approved 15,500 marks for necessary modifications. As a result, the municipal museum also had the rooms in the front building previously used by the art association. With the demolition of the partition walls, a tour between the museum and the club rooms was created. On July 25, 1920, the building was opened with the exhibition “Old and Modern Graphics”.

Under the direction of Walter Kaesbach, more contemporary art was shown a. a. from the environment of the state Bauhaus in Weimar and the Dresden artist group Die Brücke . Through the mediation of Kaesbach, the mural “Levels of Life” by Erich Heckel was created in the Angermuseum .

After Kaesbach left in 1924, Herbert Kunze took over the management of the museum and the art association in 1925. Herbert Kunze was also very open to modernism and continued exhibiting contemporary avant-garde art. Exhibitions were shown with works a. a. by Max Beckmann , Ernst Barlach , Otto Dix , George Grosz , Lyonel Feininger , Wassily Kandinsky , Paul Klee , Oskar Kokoschka , Emil Nolde , Christian Rohlfs , Franz Radziwill and Franz Lenk . From January 31 to February 1926, the traveling exhibition Neue Sachlichkeit, conceived by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub and shown in 1925 in Mannheim , Dresden and Chemnitz , was held . German painting presented since Expressionism .

Amazingly, Herbert Kunze was able to hold an exhibition a. a. with works by Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff , Emil Nolde and Christian Rohlfs from Erich's private collection. Then the presence of the avant-garde dries up. On September 3, 1937, 765 works from the art museum's modern collection were confiscated as part of the “ Degenerate Art ” campaign. Herbert Kunze lost his position as museum director. The work of the art association was permanently impaired. After Herbert Kunze's dismissal, Magdalene Rudolph took over the management of the museum and the art association and enabled the association to continue its work, as far as the difficult environment caused by the Second World War made it possible.

In February 1944 the Kunstverein home was destroyed by an air raid. After 1944 there is no evidence of any association work. The official dissolution of the association took place in 1949 and is documented in the records of the Erfurt District Court .

Exhibition activity (selection)

Between 1900 and 1937 exhibitions of the modern a. a. represented:

Erich Heckel in 15 exhibitions, Christian Rohlfs and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff in 13, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 11, Emil Nolde in nine, Otto Mueller and Lyonel Feininger in eight, Wilhelm Lehmbruck , Max Pechstein and Hans Walther in six, Oskar Kokoschka and Franz Marc in four, Heinrich Nauen , Gerhard Marcks . August Macke and Wassily Kandinsky in three, Charles Crodel , Maria Caspar-Filser , Max Kaus and Johannes Driesch in two and in one exhibition each Richard Seewald , Gustav Wolff , Fernand Léger , Hans Arp , Ewald Mataré , Alfred Kubin , Ernst Barlach and Alexej by Jawlensky .

Personal exhibitions received u. a .:

Erich Heckel 1907, 1921, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1934; Christian Rohlfs 1914, 1920, 1925, 1926, 1929/30, 1935; Lyonel Feininger 1921, 1927, 1929; Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1922, 1926, 1931; Charles Crodel 1924, 1926, 1931; Wassily Kandinsky 1925, 1928, 1930; Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1922, 1927; Franz Lenk 1937, 1941; Otto Mueller 1923, 1930; August Macke 1921, 1928; Emil Nolde 1921, 1926; Gerhard Marcks 1927, 1930; Paul Klee 1925, 1929; Gustav H. Wolff 1929; Johannes Driesch 1930; Wilhelm Lehmbruck 1931; Heinrich Nauen 1921; Franz Radziwill 1928; Otto Dix 1929; Pol Cassel 1928; Karl Hofer 1926; Käthe Kollwitz 1928; Oskar Kokoschka 1925; Alexej von Jawlensky 1927.

literature

  • Cornelia Nowak: The Erfurt Art Association: between avant-garde and adaptation; a documentation from 1886 to 1945 . Ed .: Ernst Herrbach. Angermuseum, Erfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-930013-14-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Articles of Association of the Erfurter Kunstverein e. V. , accessed April 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ Shannon Connely: Two Exhibitions: New Objectivity (1925) and Badisches Kunstschaffen der Gegenwart (1929) . In: Iris Cseke (Hrsg.): Production - AFFEKTION - reception: conference proceedings for the interdisciplinary symposium for young scientists as part of the ProArt doctoral program at LMU Munich . epubli GmbH, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8442-8700-4 , p. 223 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ Beate Klostermann: The special exhibitions of the Angermuseum from 1945 to 1962. An analysis of the aesthetic reception. Dissertation . University of Erfurt, 2007, p. 22 ( digitized version - the information varies in various sources from 591 to around 800 confiscated works).