Gabriele Munter: Neglected Woman Expressionist

Abstract

An assignment for my orientation class in Erlangen, Germany required reading and responding to a newspaper article. I could have chosen an article about politics or current events, but I was drawn to a colorful front page article about a painter. The paintings were intriguing because of the bright colors used, the beautiful Bavarian landscapes, the Expressionistic style, and the fact this painter was a woman. I was especially interested because this was the first I had heard about the painter Gabriele Munter. It is easy to assume that because the artists mentioned in art history, represented in galleries and museums, regarded as masters, and praised are male, women artists do not exist or lack the talent necessary to excel in the art field. With further exploration into the life, work, and influence of Gabriele Munter I have discovered a woman artist who was extremely talented and influential, but who has been practically written out of art history because of her gender. Her more than sixty-year career as an artist has been reduced to her relationship with Wassily Kandinsky, often with little or no mention of her own achievements.