80th Anniversary: Leicester's German Expressionism Collection
February 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the important 'Exhibition of Mid-European Art' that saw the very first German Expressionist artworks enter Leicester Museum’s permanent collection.
Published: 16 February 2024
Image Left: ‘Head with red-black hair’ by Emil Nolde © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll
Image Right: ‘The Bridge at Erfurt’ by Hermann Max Pechstein © DACS 2024
The 'Exhibition of Mid-European Art' took place at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery in 1944, and was the first major exhibition in Britain of German Impressionism and Expressionism. This bold exhibition showed an important selection of 62 works, comprises loaned artworks from refugee artists and collectors who had fled Nazi Germany. The four works acquired for Leicester's permanent collection were the watercolour ‘Head with Red Black Hair’ by Emil Nolde, oil paintings ‘Red Woman’ by Franz Marc and ‘Behind the Church’ by Lyonel Feininger; and the pen and wash drawing ‘The Bridge at Erfurt’ by Hermann Max Pechstein.
Mid-European Art catalogue
The exhibition was curated by the Museum’s Curator-Director, Trevor Thomas, to whom the current Expressionism: The Total Artwork Gallery is dedicated to in his memory. Without his visionary decision to put on this exhibition and to push acquiring these four works, Leicester would not have the collection that it has today. You can learn more about Trevor Thomas and his story here.
‘Red Woman’ by Franz Marc
The four key artworks shown in 'Mid-European Art' are now among an ever-expanding internationally-recognised collection that has gone on to increase in size to number over 550 items. These four works are usually part of the permanent exhibition but the Feininger has recently come down ahead of a loan to Tate Modern for their Blaue Reiter exhibition taking place from April to October this year.
‘Behind the Church’ by Lyonel Feininger © DACS 2024