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Die Brucke

"In 1905 the artists' association "Brücke" was founded by four students of architecture - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff - in the city of Dresden."
http://www.bruecke-museum.de/bridge.htm
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner(1880-1938)


"Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was born in Aschaffenburg on 6 May 1880. In 1901 he began to study architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Dresden. He continued his studies in Munich from 1903/04 and finished his degree back in Dresden in 1905. Together with his fellow students Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl, Kirchner founded the artists’ association "Brücke" in June 1905 and hencefoth comitted himself to painting, drawing and printing."

Fritz Bleyl (1880-1966)


"Fritz Bleyl was born in Zwickau in 1880 and grew up in the Erzgebirge region. Following the wishes of his parents he studied architecture at the polytechnical university in Dresden in 1901, but he dreamt of becoming a painter. During his first term he met Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who soon became his close friend. The two ventured out to study nature and discussed their artistic ideas. After the foundation of the artists' association "Brücke" in 1905 Bleyl very actively participated in the group's exhibition projects."

Erich Heckel (1883-1970)

 

"Erich Heckel was born in Döbeln, near Chemnitz, in 1883. During his time at grammar school he made friends with Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Along with other pupils they gathered at the debating society "Vulkan", where they discussed anti-bourgeois literature and art theory. Nietzsche and Dostojewski were among their favourite authors and the intellectual appreciation of literature and its later transfer into the vocabulary of fine arts had a lasting impact on Heckel. In 1904 he began to study architecture at the polytechnical University in Dresden. Here he met Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; their discovery of their common goals culminated in the foundation of the artists' association "Brücke" with Schmidt-Rottluff and Bleyl in 1905."

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976)

 

"Karl Schmidt was born in Rottluff near Chemnitz in 1884 and met Erich Heckel at grammar school in Chemnitz in 1902. Their first literary and artistic interests lead both of them to join the debating society "Vulkan". Karl Schmidt began studying architecture at the polytechnical university of Dresden in 1905. Through Heckel he got to know Fritz Bleyl and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. In the same year they founded the artists’s association "Brücke"."

Max Pechstein (1881-1955)

 

"Pechstein was born in Zwickau. After an apprenticeship as a decorator he enrolled at the arts and crafts school in Dresden in 1900. Between 1903 and 1906 he studied at the academy with Professor Otto Gußmann. In 1906 he met Erich Heckel, who introduced him to the memebers of the "Brücke". Enthusiasticly he joined the artistic work and discussions of the "Brücke" members."

 

Currently has an exhibition at the MOMA

Emil Nolde (1867-1956)

 

"Emil Hansen was born in the village of Nolde near the Danish border in August 1867. At the age of seventeen he became the apprentice of a wood carver near Flensburg, while at the same time practicing his skills as a draughtsman.Through an exhibition in Dresden in 1906 the artists of the "Brücke" became aware of his work and invited him to join their association. For two years Nolde took part in the group’s touring exhibition projects and in 1907 he spent several weeks in Dresden."

Otto Mueller(1874-1930)

 

"Otto Mueller was born in Libau in the Sudeten Mountains in 1874. Not very fond of the disciplined studies at grammar school, Mueller liberated himself in 1890 by starting an apprenticeship in lithography. Here, his artistic talent was discovered and his father finally agreed to allow him to study fine arts. From 1894 to 1896 he studied at the Academy of Arts in Dresden, and in 1898 he went to Munich to study. "

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