Preview

Dresden, 1905: Four young men depart from the norm and establish an artists’ group that throws everything into question. Nothing escapes their critical eye. »Brücke« (Bridge) is more than a name: it becomes a symbol of transition into a new age. The group’s colour palette is bright and garish; their lines represent a clear departure from tradition, and their portrayals of the human form are raw, direct, vibrant

Under a banner of uncompromising rejection of academic conventions, »Die Brücke« was the first group formed by Expressionist artists in Germany and marked a turning-point in art history. Their works signal a radical departure from the realism of the nineteenth century and forge new paths for subjective, expressive images.

The exhibition Untamed Colours, Free Spirit at the Franz Marc Museum maps out the beginnings of a movement that sought to achieve a fusion of art and life. It displays confident, assertive nudes and woodcuts exuding archaic power and highlights the urban metropolis as a febrile arena of modernism. At the same time, the show casts light on the ideals of the Lebensreform, the search for unspoilt purity, freedom and closeness to nature – topics that still resonate today.