The Bridge

In 1905, four architecture students in Dresden formed Die Brücke (The Bridge): Kirchner, Heckel, Schmidt-Rottluff, and Bleyl. The name said it all — they saw their art as a bridge to a freer future.

Their style was loud and raw: harsh colors, jagged forms, slashing brushwork. Kirchner's Berlin street scenes show angular, anxious figures packed into a tight, off-kilter city — the unease of modern urban life made paint.

The Blue Rider

In 1911, a second group gathered in Munich: Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), led by Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Where Die Brücke was aggressive and urban, this circle was mystical and searching.

Marc painted animals in impossible colors — blue horses, yellow cows — to reach the spirit he felt living under the surface of things. For him, blue stood for the calm, spiritual masculine, not for any real horse.