The first exhibition of Der Blaue Reiter opened on December 18, 1911, at the Thannhauser Gallery in Munich. Gabriele Münter was represented with six paintings, including the Wuppertal painting, which had been created shortly before. Münter was also involved in the creation of the almanac Der Blaue Reiter, but was not mentioned in the imprint. Marianne von Werefkin's contribution to the development of the artistic style of the loose group and her art-theoretical reflections are also far less well known than those of Kandinsky, who is generally regarded as the head of Der Blaue Reiter.
It was Münter who purchased the house in Murnau in 1909, where artists would meet, discuss, and paint together in the rural surroundings. While most of the paintings here were created in the summer, this painting depicts a winter landscape. The short, firm brushstrokes, the perspectively compressed landscape forms, and the reduced color palette illustrate her growing confidence in a style of representation that is detached from the subject.
- Location & Dating
- 1911
- Material & Technique
- Pappe
- Dimensions
- 52 x 71 cm
- Museum
- Von der Heydt Museum
- Inventory number
- G 1039