Photo by Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin
In 1892, a group of rebel German painters, disillusioned by Berlin’s juried and failing exhibition circuit, decided to mount their own shows. They called themselves the Group of XI and had 17 members, with their association lasting up to the beginning of the Berlin Secession in 1899. Credited in this exhibition with establishing modernism in Berlin, over 100 paintings, etchings, sculptures and items of applied arts are on display alongside original catalogues from their group shows. Working-class scenes in fish markets and lowly cottages by Hans Herrmann sit alongside portraits and drawings by Max Liebermann that represent the group’s move into impressionism. Sparse coastal scenes by Konrad Mueller-Kurzwelly and seascapes by Hugo Schnars-Alquist feel incredibly modern, as do the acid yellows of Walter Leistikow’s landscapes of Berlin’s Schlachtensee. An exciting look at a movement characterised not so much by a uniform style, as a spirit of rebellion and audacity.
Through Sep 15
