Making Modernism

12 Nov 2022-12 Feb 2023

Overview

Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin. Discover the trailblazing women hidden from the history of 20th-century Modernism.

Making Modernism is the first major UK exhibition devoted to pioneering women working in Germany in the early 1900s: Paula Modersohn-Becker, Kӓthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin.

Celebrated in their native homelands, this exhibition will introduce their innovative paintings and works on paper, alongside key pictures by Erma Bossi, Ottilie Reylaender and Jacoba van Heemskerck.

The exhibition reframes subjects such as self-portraiture, still-life, the female body, depictions of childhood, landscapes and urban scenes through the experiences and perspectives of these ground-breaking artists who – although less familiar than their male counterparts, such as Wassily Kandinsky – were no less central to the development of radical new approaches to art in Europe.

Bringing together 65 works, many never seen in the UK before, Making Modernism foregrounds the individuality of each artist whilst shining a spotlight on the strong affinities between them. Combining impressive, bold and intimately-scaled works, this exhibition explores themes of identity, representation and belonging – all powerfully relevant today.

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