Neue Künstlervereinigung München

The Neue Künstlervereinigung München (NKVM), ("Munich New Association of Artists", if literally translated from German) formed in 1909 in Munich around Wassily Kandinsky, and prefigured Der Blaue Reiter, the first modernist secession which is regarded as a forerunner and pathfinder for Modern art in 20th-century Germany.

Historical background

The founding members were Wassily Kandinsky (who initially proposed the group), Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, Gabriele Münter, Adolf Erbslöh, Charles Johann Palmié and Alexander Kanoldt.

The principal figures came together to study in Munich in 1909. In 1909, 1910 and 1911, the NKVM organised three cycling exhibitions. The first cycle showed the original group and artists invited; the second cycle expanded to include French and Russian avant-garde artists such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque; the third and final cycle excluded most of the previous exhibitors, especially the secessionists of Der Blaue Reiter who launched their own parallel show in the same gallery, as a result of tensions within the NKVM.[1]

1st Cycle: "Turnus 1909–1910"

The catalogue of the first NKVM exhibition lists 128 items by 16 artists: Paul Baum, Wladimir von Bechtejeff, Erma Bossi, Dresler, Eckert, Erbslöh, Pierre Girieud, Karl Hofer, Jawlensky, Kandinsky, Kanoldt, Kogan, Alfreds Kubin, Münter, Pohle, Werefkin, and is accompanied by 14 reproductions and a list of prices.[2]

On view beginning on December 1, 1909, at the Moderne Galerie in Munich, this exhibition traveled to 9 venues:

  • December 1–15, 1909: Munich, Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser
  • Brünn
  • Elberfeld
  • Barmen
  • Hamburg
  • Düsseldorf
  • Wiesbaden
  • Schwerin
  • Frankfurt am Main.[3]

It received mainly negative criticism from the local press.

2nd Cycle: "Turnus 1910–1911"

The catalogue of the second NKVM exhibition lists 115 items by 29 artists: Bechtejew, Bossi, Braque, Derain, Kees van Dongen, Durio, Erbslöh, Le Fauconnier, Girieud, Haller, Hoetger, Jawlensky, von Kahler, Kandinsky, Kanoldt, Kogan, Kubin, Alexander Mogilewski, Münter, Nieder, Picasso, Rouault, Scharff, de Vlaminck, Werefkin, David Burljuk, Wladimir Burljuk, Denissoff, Soudbinine, and is accompanied by 20 reproductions and 2 pages of advertisements.[4]

On view from September 1, 1910, at the Moderne Galerie in Munich, this exhibition visited 8 venues in:

  • Moderne Galerie Munich
  • Karlsruhe, Mannheim
  • Hagen
  • Paul Cassirer Berlin
  • Leipzig
  • Galerie Arnold Dresden
  • Munich Weimar
  • Neue Secession Berlin[3]

3rd Cycle: "Turnus 1911–1912"

The third and final NKVM exhibition showed 58 paintings by 8 artists: Erma Barrera-Bossi, Wladimir von Bechtejeff, Adolf Erbslöh, Pierre Girieud, Alexej von Jawlensky, Alexander Kanoldt, Moissey Kogan and Marianne von Werefkin, and 8 illustrations – one for each participant.[5]

On view from December 18, 1911, at the Moderne Galerie in Munich, this exhibition originally was intended for 8 or 9 venues, but probably ceased to travel after the 2nd venue:

  • December 18, 1911 – January 1, 1912: Munich/München, Moderne Galerie
  • Zürich & Bremen (?)
  • Köln
  • Elberfeld
  • Mannheim
  • Munich, Secession
  • Heidelberg
  • Frankfurt am Main
  • Jena
  • Breslau[3]

Notes
  1. This parallel show of Der Blaue Reiter showed 49 works by Henri Rousseau, Albert Bloch, David Burljuk, Wladimir Burljuk, Heinrich Campendonk, Robert Delaunay, Elisabeth Epstein, Eugen von Kahler, Wassily Kandinsky, August Macke, Franz Marc, Gabriele Münter, Jean Bloé Niestlé and Arnold Schönberg.
  2. Reprint, reproduced in Hoberg & Friedel (1999), pp. 356–357
  3. See Hoberg & Friedel (1999), pp. 366
  4. Reprint, reproduced in Hoberg & Friedel (1999), pp. 358–362
  5. Reprint, reproduced in Hoberg & Friedel (1999), pp. 362–363.

References
  • Hoberg, Annegret, & Friedel, Helmut (eds.): Der Blaue Reiter und das Neue Bild, 1909–1912, Prestel, München, London & New York 1999 ISBN 3-7913-2065-3
  • Das Neue Bild (The New Picture) a book published by NKVM in 1911
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