Exhibition — Mar 25 until Sep 17, 2005

The Ploeg Pavilion at the Groningen Museum provides the setting for German Expressionist art that was collected by Dutch museums over the years 1919 to 1964.

The show fits within the Groningen Museum’s exhibition policy, which in 2001 stated the intention of organising exhibitions of international expressionist schools to accompany their ongoing presentation of the work of the Groningen artists’ association De Ploeg.

With 59 paintings, sculptures and works on paper, by Beckmann, Campendonk, Dix, Kirchner, Klee, Nolde and others, the Stedelijk Museum is the most important source of works loaned for this exhibition.

The Groningen presentation is subdivided into three groups in German art: Die Brücke, Der blaue Reiter, and unaffiliated expressionists. Die Brücke dominates the first galleries in the pavilion, with Kirchner as its most important representative. Dutch museums (and particularly the Stedelijk) bought a relatively large number of his works, which is reason for devoting a separate gallery to this artist.

Kandinsky is the central figure in Der blaue Reiter. After the Second World War his work was increasingly regarded as a model for younger artists, and in part for that reason was purchased by museums. He is represented by both early and late works. Individuals such as Beckmann, Grosz, Kokoschka and Dix form the third focus. These artists did not belong to a particular current, but their work is often associated with German Expressionism.

The Groningen Museum considers Kirchner’s ‘Nacktes Mädchen hinter Vorhang (Fränzi)’, from the collection of the Stedelijk, and Jawlensky’s ‘Frauenkopf’, from the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, to be among the high points of the exhibition. In addition there are works to be seen from the collections of the Municipal Museum, The Hague, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Rijksprentenkabinet, the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven, and ofcourse, the Groningen Museum itself.

The book Duitse kunst in Nederland. Verzamelen tentoonstellen kritieken 1919-1964, by Gregor Langfeld (€ 48,50 / ISBN 90-400-8998-1) serves as the publication accompanying this exhibition.

For more information see: www.groninger-museum.nl