Timings for the day

10:30 – 10:45  Registration

10:45 – 11:45  Lecture 1

11:45 – 12:05  Break

12:05 – 13:05  Lecture 2

13:05 – 14:20  Lunch break  (lunch not included in ticket price)

14:20 – 15:30  Lecture 3 and questions

The Spiritual in Art: Kandinsky, Expressionism and The Blue Rider  This day of lectures will explore the path-breaking work of an international avant-garde group, active in Munich before World War I and coincides with the Tate Modern exhibition 'Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter And The Blue Rider' (25 April to 20 October 2024).  'The Blue Rider' founded by Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in 1911, and joined by leading modernists such as Paul Klee, August Macke and Gabriele Münter, sought through experiments with colour and form to explore spiritual questions relating to all the arts.

The first lecture will discuss Munich as a centre of international artistic experimentation during the modernist period, comparing it with Paris, and covering the emergence of the Secessionist and Expressionist movements.

The second and third lectures will explore the activities of the The Blue Rider, founded by Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in 1911, and joined by leading modernists such as Paul Klee, August Macke and Gabriele Münter. We will discuss how their interests extended far beyond painting into spirituality, synaesthesia, drama, dance, folk art, and the links between art and music. As well as holding exhibitions, the group published a famous magazine with articles on Cubism, the music of Scriabin and the Second Viennese School. Its illustrations featured primitive, folk, and children's art emanating not only from Europe but from the South Pacific, Africa, Japan and Egypt.