Berlin Secession
Description
The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating against the standards of academic or government-endorsed art. The movement is classified as a form of German Modernism, and came on the heels of several other secessions in Germany, including Jugendstil and the Munich Secession. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Max Liebermann
Co-founder and inaugural president of the Berlin Secession who championed German Impressionism and led the revolt against conservative state-sponsored academic art.
Lovis Corinth
Leading figure and later president of the Berlin Secession whose energetic, sensuous brushwork bridged German Impressionism and radical early Expressionism.
Walter Leistikow
Founding secretary and organizational driving force of the Berlin Secession whose atmospheric, melancholic landscape paintings of Brandenburg lakes became symbolic of the movement.
Max Slevogt
Core triumvirate member of German Impressionism alongside Liebermann and Corinth who brought vibrant plein-air light and theatrical energy to the Secession exhibitions.
Käthe Kollwitz
Prominent printmaker and the only female full member in the early avant-garde Secession whose stark, compassionate etchings depicted working-class struggles and human grief.
Max Beckmann
Exhibited prominently with the Berlin Secession early in his career as an enfant terrible, gaining fame for monumental figure compositions before his shift toward dramatic Expressionism.
Famous Artworks
Fun Facts
In 1898, sixty-five avant-garde German artists led by Max Liebermann and Walter Leistikow broke away from the conservative Association of Berlin Artists after Kaiser Wilhelm II and state-sponsored juries rejected naturalistic and post-impressionist works, establishing the independent Berlin Secession.
↗ Source: moma.org
Edvard Munch's scandalous 1892 solo exhibition in Berlin had been forcibly shut down after just one week by conservative academics, a pivotal censorship controversy that directly inspired young German modernists to organize the Berlin Secession six years later.
↗ Source: britannica.com