Blue Rider Painting. Der Blaue Reiter is a designation by Vassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc for their exhibition and publication activities, in which both artists acted as sole editors in the almanac of the same name, first published in mid-May 1912.
The editorial team organized two exhibitions in Munich in 1911 and 1912 to demonstrate their art-theoretical ideas based on the works of art exhibited. Travelling exhibitions in German and other European cities followed.
The Blue Rider disbanded at the start of World War I in 1914. The artists associated with Der Blaue Reiter were important pioneers of modern art of the 20th century; they formed a loose network of relationships, but not an art group in the narrower sense like Die Brücke in Dresden.
The work of the affiliated artists is assigned to German Expressionism. The forerunner of The Blue Rider was the Neue Künstlervereinigung München, instigated by Marianne von Werefkin, Alexej von Jawlensky, Adolf Erbslöh and the German entrepreneur, art collector, aviation pioneer and musician Oscar Wittenstein.
The N.K.V.M was co-founded in 1909, and Kandinsky, as its first chairman, organized the exhibitions of 1909 and 1910. Even before the first exhibition, Kandinsky introduced the so-called four square meter clause into the statutes of the N.K.V.M due to a difference of opinion with the painter Charles Johann Palmié, this clause would give Kandinsky the l