Gabriele Münter, "Self-Portrait in front of an Easel"

[Eva Annemarie]

“After a short period of agony, I took a great leap forward from copying nature, in a more or less Impressionist style, to feeling the content of things.” — Gabriele Münter

German Expressionist painter, Gabriele Münter was born on this day in 1877. Her work is often characterized by rich colors, simplified forms, and bold lines. Münter painted landscapes, portraits, and domestic interiors; capturing the mood of what she saw rather than exactly depicting what she saw. Together with Vasily Kandinsky, Alexei von Jawlensky, Franz Marc and others in 1911 she co-founded Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider). The Blue Rider movement was a legendary chapter in the history of art that championed the connections between visual art, music and spiritually-based color theory before disbanding around the outbreak of WWI in 1914. Münter was at the forefront of the Munich avant-garde in the early 20th century.

Want to learn more? Visit @neuegaleriebookstore online at shop.neuegalerie.org to explore a range of books on Gabriele Münter. You can also find greeting cards featuring her work.

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Gabriele Münter, “Self-Portrait in front of an Easel,” ca. 1908-09, oil on canvas. Princeton University Art Museum, Gift of Frank E. Taplin, Jr., Class of 1937, and Mrs. Taplin © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.