L.2013.6.27: Der Blaue Reiter

The first exhibition of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) opened on December 18, 1911, in the Galerie Thannhauser in Munich. The artists on view, including Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Rousseau, Robert Delaunay, and Gabriele Münter, shared a belief in the spiritual and symbolic value of modern art. Kandinsky designed the cover of the exhibition catalogue; an abstracted image suggests a mountain, and a Blue Rider, a key motif for Kandinsky, symbolizes the artist’s break from realistic representation. The catalogue states, “In this small exhibition, we aim not to promote a precise and specific form but to allow a range of forms to show how diversely the inner desire of the artists expresses itself.” Der Blaue Reiter was active as a group only until 1914.