Mattis-Teutsch and the Blaue Reiter
Munich's Haus der Kunst stages the first retrospective of the prolific yet little-known work of Hans Mattis-Teutsch, who actively participated in the avant-garde of the early 20th century, even while ensconced in the remote Carpathian mountains of his birth.
Mattis-Teutsch (1884-1960) trained as a woodcarver, then studied sculpture at the Royal Arts and Crafts School in Budapest and the Royal Bavarian Academy of Art in Munich. From 1905-1907 he worked as a picture-frame carver in Paris, where he came into contact with many avant-garde artists, including Kandinsky and Munich painter Gabriele Münter.
The paintings of Gauguin and Van Gogh influenced Mattis-Teutsch during his Parisian sojourn, but the journeyman artist also appreciated the colourful painting of the Nabis and the form and colour of work by the Fauves, the group around Matisse. In 1908 Mattis-Teutsch returned to his native city, where he spent the rest of his life painting, sculpting and printing. This exhibition includes over 150 paintings, 40 sculptures and 100 printed works.
Nature was always his chief subject, and in the effort to bring his perceptions of nature into harmony with his interior life, he moved in the direction of a colourful abstraction, which gave his work distinct similarities to that of the Blaue Reiter group around Kandinsky and Münter in Munich. He also remained in touch with the avant-garde through contacts with the Berlin magazine and gallery Der Sturm, sharing the gallery's 99th exhibition with Paul Klee.
In the 1920s, Mattis-Teutsch responded to the influence of Russian Constructivism by creating more complex compositions and muting his colour palette. His work increasingly recalled the world of craft design from which he sprang. Mattis-Teutsch's obscurity in art history stems from his geographical isolation rather than from the quality of his work. This monumental exhibition, organised by the Haus der Kunst with the Hungarian National Gallery and the MissionArt Gallery in Budapest, gives today's art lovers their first chance to discover this hitherto neglected talent.
| Venue Information: | Haus der Kunst |
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| Opening Hours: | Daily 10am-8pm (until 10pm Thu) |
| This is the major space in Munich for travelling blockbuster exhibitions. The immense building's faux-imperial colonnade betrays its origins under the control of failed painter Adolf Hitler. In a happy irony for devotees of modern art, many of the exhibits of the Staatsgalerie Moderne Kunst mounted here between 1980 and 2000 exemplify the "decadent art" which the Nazis suppressed. | |
| The modern art has now moved to the new Pinakothek der Moderne, and the building also hosts a theatre performance space for contemporary drama. | |
| Address: | 1 Prinzregentenstrasse 80538 |
| Directions: | At the north end of the city centre. By Bus: route 100 (Museenlinie: Hauptbahnhof Nord–Ostbahnhof) to Königinstrasse. By U-Bahn: U4/5 to Lehel, then tram 17 in the direction of Effnerplatz to Nationalmuseum/Haus der Kunst or U4/5 or U3/6 to Odeonsplatz, then bus 100 (Museenlinie) in the direction of Ostbahnhof to Königinstrasse. |
| Contact Details: | Haus der Kunst |
| Email: | mail@hausderkunst.de |
| Phone: | +49 (0) 89 21127 113 |
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