The "Sonderbund" — as it is normally called; its complete name being Sonderbund westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler (the "Separate League of West German Art Lovers and Artists"), and also known as Sonderbund group — was a "special union" of artists and art lovers, established 1909 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

and dissolved in 1916. In its first years, the Sonderbund mounted some landmark exhibitions, successfully introducing French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Modern Art to the western parts of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

History

The international movement of Secessionism, which since 1890 began to cover the European art scene, entered Düsseldorf, its renowned art school and artist societies at a very late date. In 1908, a group of younger artists first organized a "special exhibition" ("Sonderausstellung"), the year following they reunited in a "Sonderbund" exhibition works of their own with French contemporary art lent by local collectors and the Galerie

Bernheim-Jeune Bernheim-Jeune gallery is one of the oldest art galleries in Paris. Opened on Rue Laffitte in 1863 by Alexandre Bernheim (1839-1915), friend of Delacroix, Corot and Courbet, it changed location a few times before settling on Avenue Matignon. Th ...

of Paris. Encouraged by museum professionals, in August 1909 the Sonderbund was officially established. The lasting fame of the "Sonderbund" is founded on its three "International Art Exhibitions", 1910 and 1911 in Düsseldorf, and, especialy, the 1912 Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne, which supplied a breathtaking review of early modern art with numerous iconic works from artists including

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

and the neo-impressionists

Henri-Edmond Cross Henri-Edmond Cross, born Henri-Edmond-Joseph Delacroix, (20 May 1856 – 16 May 1910) was a French painter and printmaker. He is most acclaimed as a master of Neo-Impressionism and he played an important role in shaping the second phase of t ...

and

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the Pointillist style. Biography Paul Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863. ...

. There was a special focus on Edvard Munch. The Board of Directors of the Sonderbund included many luminaries from the world of modern art, such as Josef Feinhals, Herbert Eulenberg, Alfred Flechtheim, Karl Ernst Osthaus, Richard Reich,

Max Creutz Max Creutz (8 December 1876 – 13 March 1932) was a German art historian and curator of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Museum in Krefeld where he worked from 1922 until his death. In Cologne, in 1914 he was instr ...

, Max Clarenbach, and Walter Cohen.

Legacy and impact

The organizers of the 1913

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

were highly impressed by the exhibition in Cologne, and thus first rate European art soon made its way to the United States. The 1912 Sonderbund is consdered a precursor to the Documenta exhibitions. In 2012, the Sonderbund of 1912 was reconstructed in an exhibition "1912 - Mission Moderne" at Wallraf Richartz Museum in Cologne. (31 August to 30 December)

Artists related to Sonderbund

* Julius Bretz * Max Clarenbach * August Deusser * Walter Ophey * Ernst Osthaus * Egon Schiele * Wilhelm Schmurr *

Alfred Sohn-Rethel Alfred Sohn-Rethel (4 January 1899 – 6 April 1990) was a French-born German Marxian economist and philosopher especially interested in epistemology. His main intellectual achievement was the publication of ''Intellectual and Manual Labour: A C ...

Karli Sohn-Rethel Carl Ernst "Karli" Sohn-Rethel (1882 – 1966) German Modernist painter of the Düsseldorf school of painting art movement. He traveled often and was active in Düsseldorf, Munich, Rome, Positano, Paris, among other places. Sohn-Rethel was a me ...

Otto Sohn-Rethel Otto Wilhelm Sohn-Rethel (1877–1949) German lepidopterist and a painter of the Düsseldorf school of painting art movement. Sohn-Rethel was a member of the art groups, Sonderbund group and Young Rhineland. The prominent theme of his art was al ...

External links

Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Kunstler zu Coeln 1912

References

Literature