Der Fels
Encyclopedia
Der Fels was group of German
Expressionist artists that existed from around 1920 to 1927.
, Fritz Fuhrken and Georg Philipp Wörlen
in a World War I
prisoner of war
camp in Ripon
, England
. Other members of the group were Reinhard Hilker and the Austria
n Carry Hauser
. Wörlen, who was significantly older than the other members, was the driving force. At their last joint exhibition Fritz Stuckenberg
also took part. All the group's artists were later condemned by the National Socialist government as entartet
("degenerate").
Der Fels published a series of eight portfolios of prints (Verlag Krieg, Leipzig
). The first one also contained a manifesto
by Heinz Klapproth:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Expressionist artists that existed from around 1920 to 1927.
History
The group's origins lay in the meeting of Franz BronstertFranz Bronstert
Franz Bronstert was a German engineer and painter.- Life and Art :...
, Fritz Fuhrken and Georg Philipp Wörlen
Georg Philipp Wörlen
Georg Philipp Wörlen was a German painter, particularly associated with Passau, Bavaria, Germany.- Life :...
in a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp in Ripon
Ripon
Ripon is a cathedral city, market town and successor parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located at the confluence of two streams of the River Ure in the form of the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its main feature the Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Other members of the group were Reinhard Hilker and the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Carry Hauser
Carry Hauser
Carry Hauser, born Carl Maria Hauser , was an Austrian painter, stage set designer and poet.- Life :Carry Hauser was born in Vienna as Carl Maria Hauser into the family of a civil servant...
. Wörlen, who was significantly older than the other members, was the driving force. At their last joint exhibition Fritz Stuckenberg
Fritz Stuckenberg
Fritz Stuckenberg was a German expressionist painter.He was born as Friedrich Bernhard Stuckenberg in Munich, but moved with his family in 1893 to the northern industrial city of Delmenhorst , where his father took over as director of the Hansa-Linoleumwerke...
also took part. All the group's artists were later condemned by the National Socialist government as entartet
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
("degenerate").
Der Fels published a series of eight portfolios of prints (Verlag Krieg, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
). The first one also contained a manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
by Heinz Klapproth:
"Do you see things as they are? Form is disguise, deception. Things are not as you think you see them! Therefore become still and simple, because you are looking with your eyes and seeing only the surface. The artist fights titanic battles to win the souls of things, to penetrate to their depths, to vanquish the surface. The result of this is EXPRESSION - and this is what unites the people of the Fels."
Selection of group exhibitions
- 1921: HagenHagenHagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...
, Museum FolkwangMuseum FolkwangMuseum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th and 20th century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patron Karl Ernst Osthaus in Hagen, founded in 1901.The term... - 1921: HagenHagenHagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...
, Kunst-Kabinett Kollock - 1921: Landesmuseum MünsterMünsterMünster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
- 1922: BremenBremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Graphisches Kabinett Fedelhören - 1922: Kunsthalle DüsseldorfKunsthalle Düsseldorf-Building:The present art centre was built in 1967 in Brutalist architecture by the architects Konrad Beckmann and Brockes. They used commercially available precast concrete for the construction work.-History:...
- 1922: Kunsthalle BremerhavenBremerhavenBremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
- 1922: HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Kunstsalon Maria Kunde (Graphik) - 1922: SalzburgSalzburg-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, Moderne Galerie (Staatsgalerie) - 1922: Pfalzgalerie KaiserslauternKaiserslauternKaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
- 1922: BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Kunstsalon Heller - 1923: WerkbundhausDeutscher WerkbundThe Deutscher Werkbund was a German association of artists, architects, designers, and industrialists. The Werkbund was to become an important event in the development of modern architecture and industrial design, particularly in the later creation of the Bauhaus school of design...
Essen - 1923: Barmer RuhmeshalleBarmenBarmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which in 1929 with four other towns was merged with the city of Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. Barmen was the birth-place of Friedrich Engels and together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the...
- 1923: Oldenburg, Kunstsalon Lappan
- 1923: UlmUlmUlm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, Hermelin-Verlag - 1923: Kunsthalle KielKielKiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
- 1923: Kunsthalle BarmenBarmenBarmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which in 1929 with four other towns was merged with the city of Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia. Barmen was the birth-place of Friedrich Engels and together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the...
- 1924: Landesmuseum Münster
- 1924: Städtisches Museum ElberfeldElberfeldElberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...
(Von der Heydt-Museum) - 1925: Städtisches Museum GelsenkirchenGelsenkirchenGelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
(Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen) - 1926: ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Kunstsalon Würthle - 1926: EisenachEisenachEisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...
, Kunstsalon Messing - 1927: Städtische Gemäldegalerie BochumBochumBochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
(Museum Bochum – Kunstsammlung) - 1991: PassauPassauPassau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
, Museum Moderner Kunst (retrospective)
Sources
- Otto Breicha, Franz X. Hofer and Franz Theodor CsokorFranz Theodor CsokorFranz Theodor Csokor was an Austrian author and dramatist, particularly well-known for his Expressionist dramas. His most successful and best-known piece is 3. November 1918, about the downfall of the K. u. k. monarchy...
: Der Fels, Künstlergemeinschaft, 1921–1927, Stiftung Wörlen, Passau 1991, ISBN 3-9802307-9-1 (Museumskatalog, Landstrich; Nr. 15)