Freedom. The Art of the Novembergruppe 1918–1935

About

Its aim was to “mix people and art as closely as possible”. By 1932 the Group had exhibited about 3,000 works by 470 artists, among them many key figures of Classical Modernism, but also artists still waiting to be rediscovered.

After the collapse of the German Empire and the abdication of the Kaiser, many members of the Novembergruppe believed their art had a role to play in building a democratic society and cultivating a new type of human being. Open to every style from Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism to Dada, Abstract Art and New Objectivity, they challenged people’s viewing habits. This liberal attitude to different artistic techniques reflected the democratic principles of the young republic, whose demise also triggered the end of the Novembergruppe.

There will be approximately 120 works on show, all of which were featured at Novembergruppe exhibitions. They present a new perspective on avant-garde art during the Weimar Republic and the social utopias it harboured.

Artists (selected):
Rudolf Belling, Otto Dix, Max Dungert, Theo van Doesburg, Curt Ehrhardt, Otto Freundlich, Paul Goesch, Walter Gropius, George Grosz, Oswald Herzog, Hannah Höch, Issai Kulvianski, Paul Klee, El Lissitzky, Moriz Melzer, Erich Mendelsohn, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Piet Mondrian, Otto Möller, Max Pechstein, Iwan Puni, Hans Richter, Emy Roeder, Georg Scholz, Kurt Schwitters, Fritz Stuckenberg, Max Taut und Georg Tappert.

The patron is Michael Müller, Governing Mayor of Berlin. 

The exhibition is part of a winter festival of events across the city on the theme “100 Years Since Revolution Berlin 1918|19” in cooperation with Kulturprojekte Berlin.