The German Painter behind the American Lens: Gabriele Münter as Photographer

Abstract

Female artist Gabriele Münter (1877–1962) is recognized primarily for her innumerable contributions to twentieth-century German Expressionist painting and drawing. During her remarkably lengthy and prolific career, Münter co-founded Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider), arguably one of the most famous and important art groups in twentieth-century Europe.1 From an early age, Münter demonstrated inherent proficiency for the visual arts, a highly controversial skill for a female in Europe at the time. According to Imperial German social strictures, the historic gender equilibrium could only be preserved as long as men defended the country and women maintained the sanctity of the home. Nineteenth-century artistic tradition venerated academically-trained men as the primary creative agents responsible for popularizing “true” artwork. It was falsely presumed that an artistic woman was the “born dilettante,” meaning her creativity merely imitated a man’s originality.2 Social norms dictated that women could only pursue art as a casual hobby to mitigate aimlessness and boredom. A woman who pursued a professional career in the visual arts via formal, didactic instruction obliterated the comforting notion that females served as the reassuring guarantors of conventional domestic stability. In her later life, Münter recounted confronting these restrictive attitudes as she matriculated into Munich’s exclusive artistic communities.