From Berlin to Wrocław: for
the first time an exhibition addresses the huge artistic influence of
Die Brücke painter and German expressionist Otto Mueller (1874–1930). As
a mentor for a younger generation, he taught for more than 10 years at
the State Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts in Wrocław, which in the 1920s
was regarded as one of Europe’s most progressive art schools. Here, the
various movements in painting at the time were seen as equals: Académie
Matisse, Expressionism, New Objectivity and Bauhaus. Otto Mueller, who
was nonconformist, charismatic and enthusiastic about ideas of freedom,
had significant influence on the local art scene. The brilliance of his
work in Wrocław – enhanced and intensified by his artistic network –
extends into post-war modernism. This exhibition will for the first time
draw greater attention to an important joint chapter in German-Polish
art history.
Oskar Moll, Model in Repose, detail, around 1931, Oil on canvas, 46 x 135 cm, Private collection © Photo: Serge Hasenböhler
