MUNICH.- When Ketterer Kunst will call up gems of German Expressionism from “The Gerlinger Collection – Brücke Artists (SHG)“ in its Evening Sale on December 9, art lovers, collectors and museums with a slightly smaller budget can look forward to the next day. The auction Modern Art Day Sale comprises 73 one-of-a-kind collectibles from Germany’s most important artist group: annual reports, portfolios with woodcuts and etchings, vignettes, membership card, programs, invitation cards, posters, catalogs and the Brücke chronicle.

“Each of these pieces is an artwork itself and allows insight into self-conception, ambitions and development of the Brücke. This is why every single item has an art historical relevance,“ explains Dr. Mario von Lüttichau, academic consultant at Ketterer Kunst and former curator at the Museum Folkwang in Essen.

The young architecture students Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl SchmidtRottluff founded the artist union Brücke in Dresden in 1905 with the common goal to overcome conventional ideas of artistic life and work and the traditional academic teaching program. The young painters were influenced by their studies and the predominant ideas of the Jugendstil.

“The Brücke artists saw life as the source of inspiration for creation, what mattered was the daily experience,“ explains Dr. Mario von Lüttichau. “Their approach revolutionized the pictorial language and liberated it from the constraints of its time. A concept that is still valid today.“

Brücke art was revolutionary, as were the group’s intensive self-marketing activities. Accordingly, the Brücke consists of “Schaffende“ (Creators) and “Genießende“ (Enjoyers). The first identifies founding members and other active members like Cuno Amiet, Bohumil Kubišta, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Kees van Dongen, who made contributions to the development of a characteristic Brücke style. A total of 69 exhibitions at galleries, public institutions and museums in only eight years testifies to the tremendous scope and variety of their activities.

The “Genießende“ were the passive members, a group that by the end of the Brücke comprised 75 friends and supporters, who also funded the exhibition and publication activities with a quickly rising membership fee. In return they received a new lavishly made membership card (woodcuts) every year, as well as original prints in annual portfolios, invitation cards, the Brücke program and annual reports with vignettes. Hence the “enjoyers“ were the group’s multipliers. “The Brücke artists were self-marketing pioneers. It was the first group ever to create a successful brand through targeted marketing campaigns and strong customer relations,“ says Dr. Mario von Lüttichau. “The fact that it was all about real artworks is a true piece of luck for today’s collectors.“