Free Secession
also: Freie Secession
The Free Secession (Freie Secession) was founded in Berlin in 1914, when some 50 artists - among them Max Liebermann, Max Slevogt, and the dealer Paul Cassirer - broke away from the Berlin Secession after yet another quarrel over exhibition selections. Liebermann, who had resigned the parent society's presidency, served as its honorary president. The new association's purpose was practical: to mount its own independent exhibitions, including large black-and-white shows of drawings and prints, free of the disputes that had fractured the older body. The First World War interrupted its program, but the group survived the war and exhibited through the early 1920s before dissolving in 1924; many of its artists then rejoined the Berlin Secession. It was an exhibition alliance rather than a single style, spanning Impressionist veterans and younger modernists.
Defining characteristics
- Deliberate stylistic pluralism: German Impressionism exhibited beside younger modernist work
- Black-and-white exhibitions (Schwarz-Weiss-Ausstellungen) giving drawings and prints equal standing with painting
- Independent exhibition-making by artists, outside state academies and salons
- Loose, light-filled brushwork over academic finish, typical of its Impressionist leaders
Key figures
- Max Liebermann (1847-1935) — Honorary president and figurehead; leader of German Impressionism
- Max Slevogt (1868-1932) — Co-founder who left the Berlin Secession with Liebermann; leading German Impressionist
- Paul Cassirer (1871-1926) — Art dealer and publisher who broke away with the group and championed its exhibitions
Example works
- In der Mittagshitze — Otto Beyer (1919)
Sources
- Free Secession - Wikipedia encyclopedia