Today
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10:00-18:00
Hamburg was of major importance for the art of the »Brücke«, the artists' group founded in Dresden in 1905. Although the artists only stayed in, or visited Hamburg sporadically -- on their way to their summer residences, in Dangast (Schmidt-Rottluff), Osterholz (Heckel) or on the island of Fehmarn (Kirchner, Mueller) – the »Brücke« received unparalleled support from their Hanseatic promoters.
The young architecture students Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Pechstein and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff had founded the “Brücke” in June 1905 driven by their »belief in progress, in a new generation who were both creative and Epicurean« (Manifesto 1906). The later legendary chief inspector of buildings in Hamburg Fritz Schumacher was one of their professors in Dresden. In addition to the active members of this artists' group, which for a time also included the Swiss artist Cuno Amiet, Emil Nolde, Otto Mueller and the Hamburg artist Fritz Nölken, the so-called »passive« or honorary members played an important role in promoting the reception and subsequent great success of this modern art in Germany
The first people in Hamburg to hear about the foundation of the “Brücke”, in autumn 1905, were the lawyer and print collector Gustav Schiefler and his wife Luise, who travelled specially to Dresden as a result. Schiefler was the first person from Hamburg to become a »passive« member of the artists' group and thus, in acknowledgement of his annual dues, received the gift of an »annual portfolio« with original prints by the artist's.
The Schieflers did their utmost in Hamburg to further this art from Dresden, organising evenings on which they introduced other art lovers to the works. Soon, therefore, Schiefler's lawyer-colleague Paul Rauert and his wife Martha, Rauert's sister, Consul Bertha Rohlsen, and the art historian Rosa Schapires were also among the honorary members of the “Brücke”. In no other city did the group receive so much support so early on as in Hamburg.
The exhibition at the Hamburger Kunsthalle will focus on the relationship between the »Brücke« artists and the city of Hamburg, and on the unique collections of works by »Brücke« artists to be found in the city. The main emphasis will be on the Hamburger Kunsthalle's own stocks of paintings and works on paper from the Kupferstichkabinett, one of the most important museum collections in the world. Also on show will be top ranking works on loan from private collections such as the Rauert Collection, which was initiated in 1906 and which is still largely extant to this today.
When viewing these works it soon emerges that from the very beginning the Hamburg collectors and the city's public collections had certain preferences and focal points which influenced their collecting activities. Schiefler, for example, concentrated on the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, while the Rauerts purchased works by Emil Nolde and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. The Hamburg art lovers paid less attention to other artists such as Max Pechstein, Erich Heckel and Otto Mueller, so that their works do not crop up as frequently in the collections as those of their artist-friends.
The Hamburger Kunsthalle will show 90 paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints by artists from the »Brücke« A special room will be devoted to the relationship between the »Brücke« and the city of Hamburg, documented among other things by the famous signed postcards from the “Brücke” artists, archive material from Schiefler's estate, and several sketchbooks of Kirchner's which he used while in Hamburg.