Expressionism

in Art and Film

The exhibition Expressionism in Art and Film aims to shed new light on Expressionism across conventional boundaries of genre and to show the common influences between the arts of painting, graphics, and film. In painted and moving pictures, the exhibition shows how deeply Expressionism was permeated by the crisis of its time and how loudly it expressed the rapid societal upheavals. Having been a cultural revolutionary movement, Expressionism aimed to unite art and life from its very beginning and to eradicate the separation of the arts. As a result, being multi-disciplinary became the ideal for artists and the Gesamtkunstwerk the desired goal.

Exhibition objects: A well-balanced selection of approx. 120 exhibits
(including paintings, graphical works, film stills, and film excerpts)
Exhibition space: ca. 500 sqm (adjustable in size)
Exhibition catalog: German/English

Exhibition venues:
Kunsthalle Emden, Germany, February 12, 2022 – June 12, 2022
Museum Georg Schäfer, Germany, November 13, 2022 – February 12, 2023
Kunstforum Hermann Stenner, Germany, October 15, 2023 – February 25, 2024
Musée de Lodève, France, May 25, 2024 – August 25, 2024
Fundación Canal, Madrid, Spain, October 08, 2025 – January 04, 2026
Kunsthalle “Talstrasse”, Halle (Saale), Germany, April 28, 2026 – August 09, 2026

Film still: Fritz Lang, Metropolis, 1927
© Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung
Rudolf Belling, Organic Form (Striding Man), 1921
© Osthaus Museum Hagen
Film still: Paul Wegener, The Golem: How He Came Into the World, 1920
© Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung
Christian Rohlfs, Street in Soest, 1911
© Stadtmuseum Tübingen
Film still: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, 1921
© Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung
Käthe Kollwitz, Woman Confides in Death, 1934
© Stadtmuseum Tübingen
August Macke, South Garden, 1912
© Kunsthalle Emden
Film still: Lotte Reiniger, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926
© Primrose Film Productions

News

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On July 18, 2025, the Buchheim Museum opened the largest retrospective to date dedicated to Max Pechstein. The exhibition Max Pechstein – Vision and Work, on view until October 26, 2025, offers more than just the iconic images of Expressionism: it provides a comprehensive insight into a multifaceted oeuvre that, in its search for harmony between humanity and nature, continues to resonate today. Paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints form the core of the show, complemented by letters, photographs, and preparatory sketches. The works span Pechstein’s early years, his time with the Brücke group, the masterpieces of the 1910s to early 1930s, and his late work of the 1950s.

Max Pechstein – Vision and Work is a collaboration between the Buchheim Museum, the Institute for Cultural Exchange, the Max Pechstein Foundation, and the Art Collections of Zwickau.

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Part of an international touring exhibition, this is the most comprehensive showcase of their work to date.

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The exhibition Surrealism – Worlds in Dialogue celebrated its premiere on August 31, 2024, at the Kunsthalle Vogelmann in Heilbronn. Visitors can experience this fascinating journey through 100 years of surrealist art until January 5, 2025. The exhibition highlights how the surrealist vision has influenced subsequent generations up to the present day. This cross-generational encounter demonstrates how surrealist themes and methods still resonate with our zeitgeist, while addressing fundamental socio-political issues. Avantgardists such as Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Yves Tanguy, René Magritte, Claude Cahun, and others engage in dialogue with contemporary artists like Cindy Sherman, Sarah Lucas, or David Lynch, shedding light on themes such as identity, gender and technology from various perspectives.

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