“20th Century German Expressionism,” September 14

Sunday, September 14, 2 p.m.

German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second Street, Davenport IA

Presented as part of the German American Heritage Center's popular "Kaffee und Kuchen" series, the September 14 program 20th Century German Expressionism will find Western Illinois University's Keith Holz addressing moments in the history of German Expressionist art from the 1905 founding of Die Brücke in Dresden to glimmers of its renewed popularity in European museums today.

The presentation revisits German Expressionism’s significance for key patrons, critics, collectors, museums, and politicians to assess its impact in and beyond European cultural life, as prints are shown to have been integral to the international expansion of this early 20th century German movement. This special event is being held in conjunction with German American Heritage Center's current "From Hitler to Hollywood" film series at Davenport venue The Last Picture House, with classic works by German masters shown every Wednesday evening through October 1.

In 1905, a group of four German artists, led by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, formed Die Brücke (the Bridge) in the city of Dresden. This was arguably the founding organization for the German Expressionist movement, though they did not use the word itself. A few years later, in 1911, a like-minded group of young artists formed Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in Munich. The name came from Wassily Kandinsky's Der Blaue Reiter painting of 1903. Among their members were Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Paul Klee, and August Macke. However, the term Expressionism did not firmly establish itself until 1913.

Expressionism has been notoriously difficult to define, in part because, as historian and author Richard Murphy stated, "The search for an all-inclusive definition is problematic to the extent that the most challenging expressionists such as Kafka, Gottfried Benn and Döblin were simultaneously the most vociferous 'anti-expressionists." What can be said, however, is that it was a movement that developed in the early 20th century, mainly in Germany, in reaction to the dehumanizing effect of industrialization and the growth of cities, and that, as Murphy said, "One of the central means by which expressionism identifies itself as an avant-garde movement, and by which it marks its distance to traditions and the cultural institution as a whole, is through its relationship to realism and the dominant conventions of representation."

Keith Holz, who presents 20th Century German Expressionism, is a professor of art history at Western Illinois University in Macomb. He has published extensively on modern German art and its publics with special regard for the exiled artists who fled Nazi Germany for the Western democracies.

20th Century German Expressionism will be presented at Davenport's German American Heritage Center on September 14, with refreshments for this “Kaffee und Kuchen” event served at 1:30 p.m. and Holz's program beginning at 2 p.m. Participation is free for Heritage Center members and $8 for non-members, and more information is available by calling (563)322-8844 and visiting GAHC.org.