BERLIN.- The exhibition 'Between Dix and Mueller' highlights the work of a group of early 20th century artists, whose lives and careers were fractured by one, if not two, world wars but whose names are now firmly established in art history. It also reflects the story of a gallery, whose activities were tightly connected with this generation of artists, and whose tireless efforts to promote their work, both in America as well as in Europe, helped to shape their reputation and renown internationally.

Against the backdrop of Yvonne Groß’s recently published biography Between Dix and Mueller. The Berlin art dealer Florian Karsch and the Nierendorf gallery, the exhibition shows works by Marcel Breuer, Lovis Corinth, Otto Dix, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Hannah Höch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Josef Scharl and others.

On an historical side note, the gallery spaces at Schöneberger Ufer, which are now occupied by Aurel Scheibler housed the Nierendorf gallery from 1933 through 1938. It is not unthinkable that some of the works from the current exhibition were shown on the very same walls nearly one century ago.

'Between Dix and Mueller' opened on Tuesday, 9 December. The Karsch biography was presented. The exhibition will run until Saturday, 31 January 2015. (Please note that the gallery will be closed from 22 December until 5 January 2015).

The brothers Karl (1889-1947) and Josef Nierendorf (1898-1949) opened the Galerie Nierendorf in 1920 in Cologne and moved their business to Berlin soon after. In 1925, Karl Nierendorf founded the Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf together with J.B Neumann who gave up the Graphic Cabinet J.B. Neumann. The Neumann-Nierendorf partnership ceased to exist in 1933 and continued as Galerie Nierendorf. Karl left Berlin in 1936 to go to New York, where he established the Nierendorf Gallery opposite The Museum of Modern Art where he had his first exhibition in 1937. Due to the economic and political situation in Germany, Josef had to close the gallery in Berlin in 1939. Karl died in 1947 and with his death the Nierendorf gallery disappeared from the New York art scene. Josef who had planned to re-open his gallery in Berlin died in June 1949, just months before the scheduled relaunch. It was only six years later, in 1955, that his stepson Florian Karsch with his wife Inge, realized Josef’s dream when they started the Galerie Meta Nierendorf in a backroom of the Berlin-Tempelhof-based bookstore which was run by Josef’s widow Meta. In 1963 the gallery moved to the Hardenbergstrasse where it continues up to today as Galerie Nierendorf with Ergün Özdemir-Karsch, the adoptive son of Florian and Inge, at the helm. Their program reads like a Who’s Who of early 20th century art and includes artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, Otto Mueller, Paul Klee, E.L. Kirchner, Franz Marc, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Otto Dix, George Grosz and Josef Scharl.