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 Franz Marc THE LARGE BLUE HORSES 1911 |
After Marc encountered the kindred spirits who would later form the core
of the Blue Rider group--including Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Alexej
Jawlensky--his style matured into a broader artistic philosophy. The Blue
Rider was not a formal group with a manifesto and strict membership, but
rather a changing network of artists who exhibited together and shared
ideas. One of the most radical notions they proposed was the integration
of all the arts across media boundaries, and they actively recruited not
only painters and sculptors but also musicians, composers, writers, architects,
and designers to their ranks. The artificial separation of form and idea,
they argued, could not truthfully express the inner rhythm of the spirit.
In their anthology of 1911, the Blue Rider Almanac, they included
articles and essays on contemporary visual arts as well as music, theater,
"low" arts, and ancient and non-Western cultures that embraced a wide
range of conceptions about the place of art and the spiritual in the modern
world.
 Wassily Kandinsky STUDY FOR IMPROVISATION V 1910 |
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The exhibition Franz Marc
and the Blue Rider presents works by Marc and 10 of his Blue Rider
colleagues that illuminate their common goals while making clear their
distinct artistic personalities. Visitors will see several of Marc's masterpieces
from this prolific period, including The Large Blue Horses (1911),
a longtime favorite from the Walker's permanent collection; two related
oils, The Small Blue Horses (1911) and The Small Yellow Horses
(1912); and the stunning The Red Horses (1911). A selection of
prints and gouaches by Marc--depicting animals both real and mythical--illuminates
his increasingly abstract treatment of line, form, and color as he sought
to develop a spiritually expressive art. Blue Rider cofounder Wassily
Kandinsky, the Russian-born painter who was among the earliest advocates
of pure abstraction, is represented by eightworks--notably his important
Study for Improvisation V (1910), on loan from the Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, and a key 1923 lithograph entitled Orange.
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 BLUE RIDER ARTISTS 1911 |
Nine other artists associated
with the Blue Rider are represented with works from the 1910s and 1920s.
Highlights include paintings by Gabriele Münter, Alexej Jawlensky,
and August Macke from private collections in the Twin Cities; prints by
Paul Klee, Alfred Kubin, and Heinrich Campendonk that are by turns lyrical,
surreal, and graphically bold; and several works each by American expatriates
Lyonel Feininger and Albert Bloch that blend German and American concerns
and content. Visitors also can see three paintings by avant-garde composer
Arnold Schönberg, a prolific visual artist and writer who contributed
to the Blue Rider Almanac. Selections from Schönberg's music
of the period can be heard in the gallery spaces.
IN
THE WALKER ART CENTER SHOP
The newly published catalogue Franz Marc: Horses provides the most
in-depth research to date on this important theme in Marc's work. Lavishly
illustrated, this 284-page book includes essays by art historians Christian
von Holst, Karin von Maur, Andreas Schalhorn, and Andreas K. Vetter. Hardcover:
$45 ($40.50 Walker members).
RELATED
EVENTS
FREE TOURS
FRANZ MARC AND THE BLUE RIDER
THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2001, 1 PM
SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2001, 2 PM
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2001, 6 PM
SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2001, 2 PM
Join the Walker Art Center's knowledgeable tour guides for a lively, engaging,
and informative tour of the exhibition.
JUNE EVENTS
FREE TOURS
FRANZ MARC AND THE BLUE RIDER
SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2001, 2 PM
SUNDAY, JUNE 10 , 2001, 2 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2001, 1 PM
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2001, 6 PM
Join the Walker Art Center's knowledgeable tour guides for a lively, engaging,
and informative tour of the exhibition.
MAY
EVENTS
FREE TOURS
FRANZ MARC AND THE BLUE RIDER
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2001, 2 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2001, 6 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2001, 1 PM
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2001, 1 PM
SATURDAY,
MAY 26, 2001, 2 PM
THURSDAY,
MAY 31, 2001, 1 PM
Join the Walker Art Center's knowledgeable tour guides for a lively, engaging,
and informative tour of the exhibition.
FREE FIRST SATURDAY
HORSING AROUND
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2001, 11 AM-4 PM
This month the Walker teams up with Galumph Performance Troupe to bring
you a full day of spectacular fun. Experience a puppet performance, explore
colorful paintings of fantastic horses in the exhibition Franz Marc
and the Blue Rider, create your own puppets, and be enchanted by fantasy
fables during a film screening.
WALKER
AFTER HOURS
A HORSE
OF A DIFFERENT COLOR
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2001, 5:30-9 PM
$14 ($7 WALKER MEMBERS)
Let the reins loose and discover performing-arts events throughout the
building, including Deborah Jinza Thayer's Movement Architecture,
works by Flaneur Productions, and live music from Pleasant Stitch.
SUNDAY FUN
OF COURSE
A HORSE!
SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2001, 1-2:30 PM
$8 ($4 WALKER MEMBERS)
Franz Marc loved to draw and paint colorful horses. Warm up your imagination,
because we are going to begin by sketching some horses in the exhibition
Franz Marc and the Blue Rider.
SPECIAL EVENT
CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS' LUNCHEON
MONDAY, MAY 21, 2001, 12 NOON
$30 WALKER CONTRIBUTING-LEVEL MEMBERS
Join curators Joan Rothfuss and Beth Mangini for a special luncheon and
tour of the exhibition Franz Marc and the Blue Rider. To attend
or for more information about Contributing-level membership, call 612.375.7641.
APRIL EVENTS
FREE TOURS
FRANZ MARC AND THE BLUE RIDER
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2001, 6 PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2001, 2 PM
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2001, 2 PM
SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2001, 2 PM
Join the Walker Art Center's knowledgeable tour guides for a lively, engaging,
and informative tour of the exhibition.
OPEN
MONDAYS TEACHER WORKSHOP
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 4-6 PM
$8 ($6 WALKER MEMBERS)
Designed for educators, this workshop and tour offers participants specially
prepared materials and slides that place Franz Marc's masterpiece The
Large Blue Horses (1911) at the heart of the early 20th-century German
movement the Blue Rider.
GALLERY
TALK
SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2 PM
FREE WITH GALLERY ADMISSION
Charles W. Haxthausen, Director of the Graduate Program in the History
of Art at Williams College, leads a gallery talk on Marc and the interdisciplinary
aesthetic at the core of the Blue Rider group. Meet in the lobby.
FRANZ MARC AND THE BLUE RIDER WAS ORGANIZED
WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE BUSCH-REISINGER MUSEUM AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY,
THE STAATSGALERIE STUTTGART, GERMANY, THE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS,
AND SEVERAL PRIVATE COLLECTORS. THE MINNEAPOLIS PRESENTATION IS MADE POSSIBLE
BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM DAYTON'S PROJECT IMAGINE, ALLIANZ, LEONARD AND
MARY LOU HOEFT, MARGOT SIEGEL, AND JOHN TAFT AND MARTHA MCPHEE.