- De
- En
in Berlin
Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt (1905–1925)
Potsdamerstrasse 113, Berlin-Schöneberg
Destroyed in the Second World War
Today: Potsdamerstraße 81/83, new building
“Salon Gurlitt deserves our thanks for being courageous enough to make its rooms available for an exhibition by this association of young artists, among whom are certainly some of the best talents.”
Art critic Curt Glaser on the Brücke exhibition at Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, 15 May 1912.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Brücke, catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin, title vignette, 1912, Brücke-Museum
Otto Mueller, Drei sitzende Akte, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin 1912, p. 19, Brücke-Museum
Erich Heckel, Sich Waschende, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 13, Brücke-Museum, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Schleudertanz, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 15, Brücke-Museum
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Toilette – Mädchen beim Hutaufsetzen, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 17, Brücke-Museum
Max Pechstein, Landschaft mit Turm und Reiter, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 23, Brücke-Museum, © Pechstein Hamburg / Berlin; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Max Pechstein, Schwermuth, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 25, Brücke-Museum, © Pechstein Hamburg / Berlin; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Kämmende Frauen, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 27, Brücke-Museum, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Sitzendes Mädchen, 1912, in: catalogue of the "Brücke" exhibition at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, p. 29, Brücke-Museum, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
At the beginning of the 20th century, Berlin was the cultural centre of the German Empire. In no other city were there more galleries than here. Among the most prominent was Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt (also called Galerie or Hof-Kunsthandlung Fritz Gurlitt), which was founded in 1880 and specialised in contemporary art. After Fritz Gurlitt’s early death, his son Wolfgang increasingly took over the company’s responsibilities from 1907 on. After several moves, the art gallery settled into premises at Potsdamer Straße 113 from 1905 on.
Exhibition view of the Brücke artists' group in the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, with Erich Heckel, 1912, Kirchner Museum Davos, donation of the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Estate
Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, Potsdamer Straße 113, © Bildarchiv Foto Marburg
Thanks to Wolfgang Gurlitt’s preference for Expressionism, and also to Max Pechstein’s engagement, a comprehensive exhibition of the Brücke group of artists opened there in April 1912. It was their first and only group presentation in Berlin. The artists designed both the invitation card and the exhibition catalogue themselves, as they commonly did. In 1913, solo presentations by Pechstein, Kirchner, Heckel and Schmidt-Rottluff followed at the same venue. Wolfgang Gurlitt had a particularly close relationship with Pechstein: from 1913 to 1923, he arranged all of the artist’s sales and took on exclusive representation of him. Pechstein, in turn, designed stained glass windows for the gallery rooms on Potsdamer Straße.
Isabel Fischer
Erich Heckel, KG. Brücke, 1912, invitation card for the exhibition "KG. Brücke" at the Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin, 1912, folder with woodcut, Brücke-Museum, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Erich Heckel, KG. Brücke (inner side), 1912, Brücke-Museum, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
