Purrmann and Expressionism

Buchheim Museum, Bernried am Starnberger See
2. April – July 9, 2017

This year’s spring exhibition at the Buchheim Museum is dedicated to the great colorist Hans Purrmann (1880 – 1966). A similarly extensive presentation of the painter and graphic artist had last been held in Bavaria in 1962 at the Haus der Kunst and in 1976 at the Villa Stuck.

Purrmann, who grew up in Speyer, studied under the Munich painter Franz von Stuck until 1905. He eventually moved to Paris via Berlin, where he joined the international avant-garde. He had an artistic friendship with Henri Matisse. Together they founded the Académie Matisse. Purrmann was clearly influenced by Matisse, who was ten years his senior, in the cheerful coloring, the playful composition and the lightness of the pictorial themes. However, in Paris, Berlin, Langenargen on Lake Constance, Florence and, after 1945, in Ticino, he developed an oeuvre that, with its richly nuanced and luminous colors, can be considered an independent contribution to modernism.

Felix Billeter, director of the Munich-based Hans Purrmann Archive, and Daniel J. Schreiber, director of the Buchheim Museum, are co-curating the exhibition. In this show, they are experimenting with an unprecedented juxtaposition of Purrmann’s graceful compositions with the symbolically succinct images of the German Expressionists. 80 landscapes, still lifes, nudes and interiors by Purrmann from the years between 1900 and 1966 can be enjoyed in correspondence with the expressionist works in the Buchheim Collection. The visitor also learns how Purrmann describes his own position in Modernism and his attitude towards Expressionism.

Purrmann’s special position becomes apparent in these sensually perceptible juxtapositions. The national and artistic antagonisms between Germany and France before the First World War can be guessed at. Visitors get an impression of the “battle for art” that prevailed at the time and had a lasting impact on the art scene in the early 20th century.

Reviled as a “Frenchman” in Germany and expelled as a German in France, Purrmann has still not gained the place he deserves in the history of 20th century art. Thanks to the high-quality selection of pictures, which was made possible by the kind support of Purrmann’s heirs and numerous other lenders, the exhibition arouses enthusiasm for the unconcealed beauty of Purrmann’s work. Through the confrontation with the German Expressionists, it also invites a revision and re-positioning of Purrmann. While Beckmann, Jawlensky and the Brücke artists sought to heighten expression by simplifying the composition, Purrmann was interested in conveying an optimistic view of the world through stimulating color compositions and differentiated brushwork.

Further information can be found here.

An illustrated catalog with texts by Felix Billeter, Julie Kennedy, Lisa Kern, Daniel J. Schreiber, Vanessa Voigt, Christoph Wagner and Hans Purrmann will be published by Buchheim Verlag to accompany the exhibition

Buchheim Museum of the Imagination
Am Hirschgarten 1, 82347 Bernried am Starnberger See
www.buchheimmuseum.de