Kandinsky, Münter, Mack and Franz in major exhibition at Tate

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“Our work is called art without borders or nations, only humanity”: this is the generous declaration of the Der Blaue Raiter movement, named after the eponymous painting by one of its founders, Wassily Kandinsky. It was 1911 and The Blue Rider, composed of artists of different nationalities and granting equal space and artistic dignity to women and men, embodied these ideals in real life.

Then reality destroyed the dream: artists were separated by the First World War – Kandinsky and Marianne Verefkin were forced to leave Germany and seek refuge in Switzerland as Russian citizens, Robert Delaunay went into exile in Portugal, Paul Klee was sent to the front as a soldier, and August Macke and Franz Marc died on the battlefield.

Tate Modern

Tate Modern has now mounted a major exhibition celebrating the movement, placing it in context and finally including Münter in the title, a well-deserved privilege for a very great but hitherto neglected artist. The Lenbachhaus in Munich, which houses the largest collection of German Expressionist works, has emptied its rooms and generously loaned most of its collection to the Tate. The rest comes from archives and private collections, and many works have never been seen in the UK before.

In the years leading up to World War I, the artists of the Blue Rider experimented and created works that brought a decisive turn to modern European art. In addition to internationalist ideals (“the only possible principle”) and the quest for a new spirituality, the movement was known for its then-new and radical use of color, which was intense and decisive, and aimed not to reflect reality but to evoke emotion.

In her 1910 self-portrait, Werfkin displays an almost defiant self-confidence, her eyes as red as her hat and lipstick, staring directly at those who observe her.