Though not widely known, German painter Gabriele Münter made a striking contribution to the art of the twentieth century. The exhibition was the first in several decades to unfold the many aspects of Münter's long and multi-facetted artistic career.
Gabriele Münter’s (1877-1962) work has usually been seen and interpreted in the context of German Expressionism and with a focus on her relationship and collaboration with Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) in the time of the artist group “Der Blue Reiter” (1911-1914).
With this exhibition – the first comprehensive, retrospective presentation of the painter for several decades – Louisiana therefore wished to broaden the narrow perspective in which Münter’s work was hitherto presented. By unfolding and opening up new aspects of her many-faceted work, the museum seeked to highlight its stylistic complexity and artistic independence.
Much of what Münter created was still unknown, but 100 years after Münter exhibited for the first time in Denmark, this was finally remedied. The exhibition took a present-day look at Münter’s work, which was presented in thematic sections – from the classic genres such as the portrait and landscape through interiors and abstractions to her interest in foreign cultures, folk art and children’s drawings.
International network
Around 1900, before Gabriele Münter started to paint, she had already begun to take photographs – the first time on a trip to the USA.
Camera in hand, she started by capturing and registering ‘the world’; but soon she began to paint almost every day and continued along that route throughout her life.
Gabriele Münter was an open-minded, experimental artist with an international network and extensive exhibition activities. During World War I she spent time in Stockholm and Copenhagen, where she had her artistic breakthrough in 1918 with her first solo exhibition.
Throughout her 60-year artistic career she created more than 2000 paintings, several thousand drawings, water-colours, stained glass, prints and around 1200 photographs, and today she is increasingly considered to have made a striking contribution to the art of the twentieth century
Rare and unseen works
Some 130 works were included in the exhibition covering the whole of the artist’s active period. Many of them had not been presented before; others were last on show many decades ago. Most of the works exhibited came from the Gabriele Münter- und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung in Munich, supplemented with rare loans from museums in Europe and the USA.
