Der Blaue Reiter(The Blue Rider)Fundamental to Expressionism1911 to 1914

Done by Garry Morgan

Prominent Artists of the time

•Franz Marc•Wassily Kandinsky•August Macke•Lyonel Feininger

Characteristics of the Movement

The group was founded in response to the rejection of Kandinsky's painting Last Judgement from an exhibition. Der Blaue Reiter lacked a central artistic manifesto, but was centred around Kandinsky and Marc.

The name of the movement comes from a painting by Kandinsky created in 1903 .It is also claimed that the name could have derived from Marc's enthusiasm for horses and Kandinsky's love of the colour blue. For Kandinsky, blue is the colour of spirituality: “the darker the blue, the more it awakens human desire for the eternal”.

Characteristics of the Movement

Within the group, artistic approaches and aims varied from artist to artist; however, the artists shared a common desire to express spiritual truths through their art. They believed in the promotion of modern art; the connection between visual art and music; the spiritual and symbolic associations of color; and a spontaneous, intuitive approach to painting. Members were interested in European medieval art and primitivism, as well as the contemporary, non-figurative art scene in France. As a result of their encounters with cubist, fauvist and Rayonist ideas, they moved towards abstraction.

Franz MarcDeer in the Woods ii

1912

Franz Marc

The Lamb

1913-14

Franz Marc

Fighting Forms

1914

Wassily Kandinsky

WWi

1913

Wassily Kandinsky

Composition X

1939

August Macke

View Into a Lane

1914

Lyonel Feininger

Jesuiten iii

1915

Works Cited Artists by Movement:Der Blaue Reiter." Artcyclopedia N.p., n.d.

Web. 6 Oct. 2009 <http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/derblauereiter.html>.

"Der Blaue Reiter." Wikipedia N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Blaue_Reiter>.

"Der Blaue Reiter." encyclopedia Britannica N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/69128/Der-Blaue-Reiter>.