Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Quotes (6 quotes)

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff: 6 quotes0 likes

Famous Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Quotes

“I know of no 'new programme'... Only that art is forever manifesting itself in new forms, since there are forever new personalities – its essence can never alter, I believe. Perhaps I am wrong. But speaking for myself, I know that I have no programme, only the unaccountable longing to grasp what I see and feel, and to find the purest means of expressing for it.”

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

In the periodical 'Kunst und Künstler', 1914; as quoted in Expressionism', de:Wolf-Dieter Dube; Praeger Publishers, New York, 1973, p. 20

“.. we didn't have the intention at all of founding a new style... What we wanted, was a refusal of the outmoded, overly-cultivated art practices.”

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

as quoted in Ernst Ludwig Kirchner und Die 'Brücke: Selbstbildnisse, Künstlerbildnisse, Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen & Egging Björn; Kerber, Bielefeld 2005, p. 174; as quoted by Louise Albiez https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272168564Claire (incl. translation), Brücke und Berlin: 100 Jahre Expressionismus; submitted to the Division of Humanities New College of Florida, Sarasota, Florida, May, 2013 p. 9

“The essence of art can never change. I'm convinced you can't talk about art. At best, you will have a translation, a poetic paraphrase, & as for that I'll leave that to the poets.”

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

Source: New Program - Kunst & Kunstler, Berlin 1914

“The atelier was under the roof. Inhabiting this space was forbidden due to fire code restrictions, but staying and working there was allowed. We therefore had to avoid the impression that these were our living quarters. The most necessary furniture had to disappear into the attic during the day. And so the place was decorated purely with curtains. A curtain hung in front of the entrance door, a second one in front of the oven heating.... an adjoining room was hidden by a curtain with abstractedly patterned batik.”

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

In addition to defying societal standards, die Brücke artists defied housing laws: the ateliers in Dresden that they worked and lived in were forbidden to be used as homes
Source: Brücke und Berlin: 100 Jahre Expressionismus, Anita Beloubek-Hammer, ed.; Berlin: Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 2005, p. 312 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272168564 translation, Claire Louise Albiez]

“On occasion I came to exaggerate certain forms, in violation of scientific proportion but in accordance with the balance of their spiritual relationships to each other. I made heads vastly oversized in relation to other parts of the body, because the head is the point of concentration of all the psyche, all expression.”

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

In Gerhard Wietek, Schmidt-Rottluff: Graphik, Verlag Karl Thiemig, Munich, 1971, p. 100; as quoted in 'Portfolios', Alexander Dückers; in German Expressionist Prints and Drawings - Essays Vol 1.; published by Museum Associates, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California & Prestel-Verlag, Germany, 1986, p. 111

“To get straight to the point, the local group of artist called Die Brücke would reckon it a high honour to be able to welcome you as a member. Of course you will know as little about Die Brücke as we knew about you before your ehibition at [Arnold’s [gallery Arnold at Dresden. Now, one of the aims of Die Brücke is to attract all the revolutionary and fermenting elements to itself – that’s the menaing of the name Brücke. The gruop also arranges several exhibitions a year, which it sends on tour in Germany... Now, dear Herr Nolde, think as you like and what you like, we hope this offer is the proper price for your tempests od colour.”

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

In a letter of Schmidt-Rottluff from Dresden, 1906 to Emil Nolde; as quoted in Expressionism, de:Wolf-Dieter Dube; Praeger Publishers, New York, 1973, p. 32
Schmidt-Rottluff was one of the founders of Die Brücke and invited Emil Nolde to participate, and emphasized the group's spirit of experimentation which they recognized in Nolde's painting art