November Group
Encyclopedia
The November Group was a group of German expressionist
artist
s and architects
. Formed on 3 December 1918, they took their name from the month of the German Revolution
.
The group was led by Max Pechstein
and César Klein
. Linked less by their styles of art than by shared socialist values, the group campaigned for radical artists to have a greater say in such issues as the organisation of art schools, and new laws around the arts. The group merged in December 1918 with Arbeitsrat für Kunst
(Workers Council of the arts - or 'The Art Soviet').
aimed to support a socialist revolution in Germany. A key objective of the group was the union of art and the people. Furthermore, the group tried to influence public and cultural aspects of society.
In 1921 artists from the left wing of the November Group called for an end to the "bourgeois development" of the artists. The declaration was signed by Otto Dix
, George Grosz
, Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield
, Hannah Höch
, Rudolf Schlichter
and Georg Scholz
.
In 1922 the decentralised Novemberg group restructured away from a conglomeration of local groups and became part of the "Cartel of advanced artistic groups in Germany" (Kartell fortschrittlicher Künstlergruppen in Deutschland).
A synthesis of styles is a characteristic of the group, often referred to as cubo-futo-expressionism, (Kubofutoexpressionismus) but really the group had quite disparate output which makes classification rather problematic.
As well as painters there were mainy artists from other disciplines such as architecture and music. The musicians became one of the driving forces under their leader Max Butting
(later replaced by Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt
).
The November Group held regular art festivals, costume parties, studio visits, literary and musical events.
, Georg Tappert, César Klein
, Moriz Melzer and Heinrich Richter. At the first meeting on 3.12.1918 they were joined by Karl Jakob Hirsch, Bernhard Hasler, Richard Janthur, Rudolf Bauer
, Bruno Krauskopf, Otto Freundlich
, Wilhelm Schmid
, the sculptor Rudolf Belling
and the architect Erich Mendelsohn
. From this group the first working committee were drawn.
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s and architects
Expressionist architecture
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts....
. Formed on 3 December 1918, they took their name from the month of the German Revolution
German Revolution
The German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany's imperial government with a republic...
.
The group was led by Max Pechstein
Max Pechstein
Hermann Max Pechstein was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, and a member of Die Brücke group.-Life and career:...
and César Klein
Cesar Klein
César Klein was a German Expressionist painter and designer, probably best known as one of the founders the November Group and the Arbeitsrat für Kunst....
. Linked less by their styles of art than by shared socialist values, the group campaigned for radical artists to have a greater say in such issues as the organisation of art schools, and new laws around the arts. The group merged in December 1918 with Arbeitsrat für Kunst
Arbeitsrat für Kunst
The Arbeitsrat für Kunst was a union of architects, painters, sculptors and art writers, who were based in Berlin from 1918 to 1921...
(Workers Council of the arts - or 'The Art Soviet').
Weimar Republic
The artists of the November group described themselves as radical and revolutionary. Their work, like that of the similar Arbeitsrat für KunstArbeitsrat für Kunst
The Arbeitsrat für Kunst was a union of architects, painters, sculptors and art writers, who were based in Berlin from 1918 to 1921...
aimed to support a socialist revolution in Germany. A key objective of the group was the union of art and the people. Furthermore, the group tried to influence public and cultural aspects of society.
In 1921 artists from the left wing of the November Group called for an end to the "bourgeois development" of the artists. The declaration was signed by Otto Dix
Otto Dix
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of Weimar society and the brutality of war. Along with George Grosz, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit.-Early life and...
, George Grosz
George Grosz
Georg Ehrenfried Groß was a German artist known especially for his savagely caricatural drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s...
, Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield
John Heartfield
John Heartfield is the anglicized name of the German photomontage artist Helmut Herzfeld...
, Hannah Höch
Hannah Höch
Hannah Höch was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage.-Biography:...
, Rudolf Schlichter
Rudolf Schlichter
Rudolf Schlichter was a German artist and one of the most important representatives of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement....
and Georg Scholz
Georg Scholz
Georg Scholz was a German realist painter.Scholz was born in Wolfenbüttel and had his artistic training at the Karlsruhe Academy, where his teachers included Hans Thoma and Wilhelm Trübner. He later studied in Berlin under Lovis Corinth...
.
In 1922 the decentralised Novemberg group restructured away from a conglomeration of local groups and became part of the "Cartel of advanced artistic groups in Germany" (Kartell fortschrittlicher Künstlergruppen in Deutschland).
A synthesis of styles is a characteristic of the group, often referred to as cubo-futo-expressionism, (Kubofutoexpressionismus) but really the group had quite disparate output which makes classification rather problematic.
As well as painters there were mainy artists from other disciplines such as architecture and music. The musicians became one of the driving forces under their leader Max Butting
Max Butting
Max Butting was a German composer.-Life:Max Butting was the son of an ironmonger and of a piano teacher. He received his first musical instruction from his mother and later from the organist Arnold Dreyer...
(later replaced by Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt
Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt
Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt was a German composer, musicologist, and historian and critic of music.- Life :...
).
The November Group held regular art festivals, costume parties, studio visits, literary and musical events.
Founding members
The group was initially founded mainly by painters Max PechsteinMax Pechstein
Hermann Max Pechstein was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, and a member of Die Brücke group.-Life and career:...
, Georg Tappert, César Klein
Cesar Klein
César Klein was a German Expressionist painter and designer, probably best known as one of the founders the November Group and the Arbeitsrat für Kunst....
, Moriz Melzer and Heinrich Richter. At the first meeting on 3.12.1918 they were joined by Karl Jakob Hirsch, Bernhard Hasler, Richard Janthur, Rudolf Bauer
Rudolf Bauer
Rudolf Bauer may refer to:*Rudolf Bauer *Rudolf Bauer *Rudolf Bauer...
, Bruno Krauskopf, Otto Freundlich
Otto Freundlich
Otto Freundlich was a German painter and sculptor of Jewish origin and one of the first generation of abstract artists.-Life:...
, Wilhelm Schmid
Wilhelm Schmid (painter)
Wilhelm Schmid was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
, the sculptor Rudolf Belling
Rudolf Belling
Rudolf Belling was a German sculptor.-Artistic theories:At the very beginning of the 20th century Rudolf Belling’s name was something like a battlecry. The composer of the "Dreiklang" evoked frequent and hefty discussions...
and the architect Erich Mendelsohn
Erich Mendelsohn
Erich Mendelsohn was a Jewish German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinemas.-Early life:...
. From this group the first working committee were drawn.
Members
A definitive list of all the members of the group is rather difficult to establish due to a lack of early documentation. However, one of the exhibition catalogues was reprinted in 1925 with the following list of names:- Lou Albert-LasardLou Albert-LasardLou Albert-Lasard was a painter.In 1914-1916, she had an affair with Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke....
- George AntheilGeorge AntheilGeorge Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
- Rudolf Ausleger
- Herbert Behrens-Hangeler
- Rudolf BellingRudolf BellingRudolf Belling was a German sculptor.-Artistic theories:At the very beginning of the 20th century Rudolf Belling’s name was something like a battlecry. The composer of the "Dreiklang" evoked frequent and hefty discussions...
- Hans Brass
- Max Butting
- Carel WillinkCarel WillinkAlbert Carel Willink was a well known Dutch painter who called his style of Magic realism "imaginary realism".Willink was born in Amsterdam, the eldest son of the mechanic Jan Willink and Wilhelmina Altes...
- Heinrich Maria DavringhausenHeinrich Maria DavringhausenHeinrich Maria Davringhausen was a German painter associated with the New Objectivity.Davringhausen was born in Aachen. Mostly self-taught as a painter, he began as a sculptor, studying briefly at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts before participating in a group exhibition at Flechtheim's gallery in...
- Walter Dexel
- Hanns EislerHanns EislerHanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
- Conrad FelixmüllerConrad FelixmüllerConrad Felixmüller was a German Expressionist painter. Born in as Conrad Felix Müller, he chose Felixmüller as his nom d'artiste....
- Lyonel FeiningerLyonel FeiningerLyonel Charles Feininger was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist.-Life and work:...
- Otto FreundlichOtto FreundlichOtto Freundlich was a German painter and sculptor of Jewish origin and one of the first generation of abstract artists.-Life:...
- Paul Goesch
- Otto Griebel
- Gustav Havemann
- Karl Jakob Hirsch
- Wilhelm Heckroth
- Hans Siebert von Heister
- Oswald Herzog
- Hannah HöchHannah HöchHannah Höch was a German Dada artist. She is best known for her work of the Weimar period, when she was one of the originators of photomontage.-Biography:...
- Lothar Homeyer
- Jascha HorensteinJascha HorensteinJascha Horenstein was an American conductor.Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire , into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother came from an Austrian rabbinical family and his father was Russian....
- Philipp JarnachPhilipp JarnachPhilipp Jarnach was considered in the 1920s to be one of the most important composers of modern music....
- Walter Kampmann
- Wassily KandinskyWassily KandinskyWassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
- Bernhard Klein
- César KleinCesar KleinCésar Klein was a German Expressionist painter and designer, probably best known as one of the founders the November Group and the Arbeitsrat für Kunst....
- Fritz Klein
- Issai Kulvianski
- Otto Lange
- El LissitzkyEl Lissitzky, better known as El Lissitzky , was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works...
- Thilo MaatschThilo MaatschThilo Friedrich Maatsch was a German artist and an exponent of abstract art, constructivism and concrete art.- Life :...
- Ewald MataréEwald MataréEwald Wilhelm Hubert Mataré was a German painter and sculptor, who dealt with, among other things, the figures of men and animals in a stylized form.-Career:...
- Moriz Melzer
- Carlo MenseCarlo MenseCarlo Mense was a German artist, associated at various times with Rhenish Expressionism and New Objectivity.Mense was born in Rheine. He studied with Peter Janssen at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1906 to 1908, and then with Lovis Corinth at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin in 1909...
- Hilla von RebayHilla von RebayHildegard Anna Augusta Elizabeth Freiin Rebay von Ehrenwiesen, Baroness Hilla von Rebay, or simply Hilla Rebay , was a notable woman abstract painter in the early 20th century. After immigrating to the United States in 1927, she may be best known for helping Solomon R...
- Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
- Otto Möller
- Rudolf Möller
- Georg MucheGeorg MucheGeorg Muche was a German painter, printmaker, architect, author, and teacher.-Early life and education:Georg Muche was born on 8 May 1895 in Querfurt, in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany and grew up in the Rhön area...
- Albert Mueller
- Felix PetyrekFelix PetyrekFelix Petyrek was an Austrian composer. He wrote stage works, songs, piano music in a Romantic style....
- Enrico Prampolini
- Kurt Hermann Rosenberg
- Paul Schmolling
- Arthur SegalArthur SegalArthur Segal was a Romanian artist and author.- Early life :Segal was born to Jewish parents in Iaşi, Romania, and studied at the Berlin Academy from 1892...
- Rudolf SchlichterRudolf SchlichterRudolf Schlichter was a German artist and one of the most important representatives of the Neue Sachlichkeit movement....
- Wilhelm SchmidWilhelm Schmid (painter)Wilhelm Schmid was a Swiss painter.-References:*This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia....
- Heinrich Stegemann
- Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt
- Georg Tappert
- Bruno TautBruno TautBruno Julius Florian Taut , was a prolific German architect, urban planner and author active during the Weimar period....
- Heinz TiessenHeinz TiessenRichard Gustav Heinz Tiessen was a German composer.-Biography:Tiessen was born at Königsberg, where he studied with composer Erwin Kroll before moving to Berlin. There, he enrolled at Humboldt University and at the Stern'sches Konservatorium, where he studied composition and music theory...
- Wladimir Rudolfowitsch Vogel
- Kurt WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
- Gert Wollheim
- Stefan WolpeStefan WolpeStefan Wolpe was a German-born composer.-Life:Wolpe was born in Berlin. He attended the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory from the age of fourteen, and the Berlin Hochschule für Musik in 1920-1921. He studied composition under Franz Schreker and was also a pupil of Ferruccio Busoni...
- Niko Wassiliew
- Walter SpiesWalter SpiesWalter Spies was a Russian-born German primitivist painter. In 1923 he came to Java, living first in Yogyakarta and then in Ubud, Bali starting in 1927. He is often credited with attracting the attention of Western cultural figures to Balinese culture and art.In 1937, Spies built what he described...
.
Weblink
- Manifesto of the "November Group" translated into Austrian Sign LanguageSign languageA sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
by Horst Dittrich http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhtj65_november-1918-a-manifesto-by-the-november-group_creation