Der Blaue Reiter

, The Blue Rider, 1903 The forerunner of The Blue Rider was the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (N.K.V.M: New Artists' Association Munich), instigated by Marianne von Werefkin, Alexej von Jawlensky, Adolf Erbslöh and German entrepreneur, art collector, aviation pioneer and musician . The N.K.V.M was co-founded in 1909 and Kandinsky (as its first chairman) organized the exhibitions of 1909 and 1910. Even before the first exhibition, Kandinsky introduced the so-called "four square meter clause" into the statutes of the N.K.V.M due to a difference of opinion with the painter Charles Johann Palmié; this clause would give Kandinsky the lever to leave the N.K.V.M in 1911. There were repeated disputes among the conservative forces in the N.K.V.M, which flared up due to Kandinsky's increasingly abstract painting. In December 1911, Kandinsky submitted Composition V for the association's third exhibition, but the jury rejected the painting. In response, Kandinsky, along with Münter, Marc, and others, formed a rival group and quickly organised a parallel exhibition at the same venue, the Thannhauser Gallery, in rooms adjacent to the official show. This breakaway group adopted the name Der Blaue Reiter. Years later, Kandinsky recalled anticipating the controversy and having already prepared extensive material for the new group's exhibition: "Our halls were close to the rooms of the NKVM exhibition. It was a sensation. Since I anticipated the 'noise' in good time, I had prepared a wealth of exhibition material for the BR [Blaue Reiter]. So the two exhibitions took place simultaneously. (…) Revenge was sweet!". Kandinsky wrote 20 years later that the name is derived from Marc's enthusiasm for horses and Kandinsky's love of riders, combined with a shared love of the color blue. In 1949, the Haus der Kunst (House of Art) in Munich opened the exhibition Der Blaue Reiter. Munich and the art of the 20th century. The path from 1908-1914. The exhibition, under the direction of Ludwig Grote, showed pictures of Der Blaue Reiter. Many paintings were loans from Gabriele Münter, Nina Kandinsky, and Sonia Delaunay. Others were part of the collection of Hildebrand Gurlitt, the former art dealer of Adolf Hitler. == Almanac ==

, The Tower of Blue Horses, 1913 (missing since 1945) Conceived in June 1911, Der Blaue Reiter Almanach (The Blue Rider Almanac) was published in early 1912 by Piper in an edition that sold approximately 1100 copies; on 11 May, Franz Marc received the first print. The volume was edited by Kandinsky and Marc; its costs were underwritten by the industrialist and art collector Bernhard Koehler, a relative of Macke. It contained reproductions of more than 140 artworks, and 14 major articles. A second volume was planned, but the start of World War I prevented it. Instead, a second edition of the original was printed in 1914, again by Piper. The contents of the Almanac included: • Marc's essay "Spiritual Treasures," illustrated with children's drawings, German woodcuts, Chinese paintings, and Pablo Picasso's Woman with Mandolin at the Piano • an article by French critic Roger Allard on Cubism • Arnold Schoenberg's article "The Relationship to the Text", and a facsimile of his song "Herzgewächse" • facsimiles of song settings by Alban Berg and Anton Webern • Thomas de Hartmann's essay "Anarchy in Music" • an article by Leonid Sabaneyev about Alexander Scriabin • an article by Erwin von Busse on Robert Delaunay, illustrated with a print of his The Window on the City • an article by Vladimir Burliuk on contemporary Russian art • Macke's essay "Masks" • Kandinsky's essay "On the Question of Form" • Kandinsky's "On Stage Composition" • Kandinsky's The Yellow Sound. The art reproduced in the Almanac marked a dramatic turn away from a Eurocentric and conventional orientation. The selection was dominated by primitive, folk and children's art, with pieces from the South Pacific and Africa, Japanese drawings, medieval German woodcuts and sculpture, Egyptian puppets, Russian folk art, and Bavarian religious art painted on glass. The five works by Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Gauguin were outnumbered by seven from Henri Rousseau and thirteen from child artists. ==Exhibitions==

First exhibition On December 18, 1911, the First exhibition of the editorial board of Der Blaue Reiter (Erste Ausstellung der Redaktion Der Blaue Reiter) opened at the Heinrich Thannhauser's Moderne Galerie in Munich, running through the first days of 1912. 43 works by 14 artists were shown: paintings by Henri Rousseau, Albert Bloch, David Burliuk, Wladimir Burliuk, Heinrich Campendonk, Robert Delaunay, Elisabeth Epstein, Eugen von Kahler, Wassily Kandinsky, August Macke, Franz Marc, Gabriele Münter, Jean Bloé Niestlé and Arnold Schoenberg, and an illustrated catalogue edited. From January 1912 through July 1914, the exhibition toured Europe with venues in Cologne, Berlin, Bremen, Hagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Budapest, Oslo, Helsinki, Trondheim and Göteborg. Second exhibition From February 12 through April 2, 1912, the Second exhibition of the editorial board of Der Blaue Reiter (Zweite Ausstellung der Redaktion Der Blaue Reiter) showed works in black-and-white at the New Art Gallery of Hans Goltz (Neue Kunst Hans Goltz) in Munich. Other shows The artists of Der Blaue Reiter also participated in these other exhibitions: • 1912 Sonderbund westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler exhibition, held in Cologne • Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon (organised by Herwarth Walden and his gallery, Der Sturm), held in 1913 in Berlin ==Members==

• Albert Bloch • David Burliuk • Heinrich Campendonk • Clotilde von Derp • Lyonel Feininger • Maria Franck-Marc • Natalia Goncharova • Alexej von Jawlensky • Wassily Kandinsky • Paul Klee • Alfred Kubin • August Macke • Franz Marc • Gabriele Münter • Arnold Schoenberg • Marianne von Werefkin ==Notes==