Der Blaue Reiter

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Der Blaue Reiter

Artist various

Artist Vassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944)

Publisher R. Piper & Co., Munich, 1914 (2nd ed.)

Author Franz Marc (German, 1880-1916)

Date1914

Dimensionsbook (rounded spine): 11 5/8 x 9 x 11/16 in. (296 x 229 x 17mm)
page: 11 3/8 x 8 1/2 in. (289 x 216mm)

MediumReproductions: 6 line block reproductions in colors of woodcuts (incl. covers); plus photolithographs of paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs Text: photolithography Paper: coated cream wove paper, cream laid paper, blue wove paper

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1979.26

Not on View

DescriptionFrom the 2nd revised edition of 1000 copies, (first edition, 1912), edited by Kandinsky and Marc. 140 illustrations including half-tone reproductions and line cuts of works by old, modern, and primitive masters, 4 initial letters and 1 vignette designed by Marc, and 3 initial letters designed by Arp; 3 color reproductions hors texte of paintings by Marc and Kandinsky; 31 leaves of reproductions and 5 leaves of music hors texte; cover design by Kandinsky printed in color (signed K). Sewn gatherings and single leaves tipped in, case bound into cloth board printed on the front with a design by Kandinsky in colors (a "blue rider"), and on the back with a design in black by Kandinsky. A blue ribbon is attached to the top of the binding for place marking. See also Bareiss copy: 1984.1321

Label TextOne of the seminal figures of Modern art, Vasily Kandinsky was a pioneer of both German Expressionism and abstraction. In 1912 he published the immensely influential Concerning the Spiritual in Art in which he argued that art should be an antidote to the soullessness of modern society. He founded the Expressionist artist collective Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) with Franz Marc in Munich in 1911 to share and spread this conviction. Kandinsky and Marc published an almanac of the group’s art, philosophy, and influences in 1912. A second, revised edition was published in 1914 on the eve of World War I (1914–18). The cover image by Kandinsky shows a figure on a rearing horse: medieval warrior St. George, the patron saint of Kandinsky’s native Moscow. He is the Blue Rider, representing enlightened art slaying decadence and ignorance. But the War brought an end to Der Blaue Reiter; members Marc and Auguste Mack were killed at the Front in 1914 and Kandinsky was forced to leave Germany for Russia.Published Referencescf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 139Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Modern Woodcuts, May 5-July 24, 2000.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Great War: Art on the Frontline, Jul. 25-Oct. 19, 2014.