Max Beckmann, Heinrich Campendonk, Robert Delaunay, Otto Dix, Lyonel Feininger, George Grosz, Alexej Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Alfred Kubin, August Macke, Franz Marc, Emil Nolde
The emotional categories, melancholy - serenity - brutality, are the inspiration for the individual chapters in the exhibition "Poetry of Color", in which paintings, drawings and prints of Classical Modernism from the important holdings of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart are presented. "Blue" as a principle of spiritualization and abstraction is represented by the artists of the "Blauer Reiter" in Munich, Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky, as well as some of their friends such as August Macke, Heinrich Campendonk, Robert Delaunay, Alexej Jawlensky and Emil Nolde. "Red" as a symbol of brutality and aggression, i.e. war, unites Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz and Paul Klee, who - each in his own way - try to process the incomprehensible.
The tightrope walk between reassurance and uncertainty from the 1920s onward is revealed in the artists' group "Die Blaue Vier." Here the Bauhaus masters Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee meet Alexej Jawlensky.
"Yellow" is the concluding satyr play in which some of the artists come together once again - sensually, ironically, going as far as the grotesque and thus defying all abysses and adversities with the help of art.
The chance to unite paintings, drawings and prints by various artists from the entire collection is one of the great fortunes that a museum like the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart can offer: Its valuable treasure, which is the result of around 200 years of passionate collecting by directors and conservators, the sovereigns and ministries supporting them in this, and in parallel numerous private collectors with their foundations and loans, always brings surprises or new discoveries to light, raises questions and provides answers. What is already known from the permanent presentation is combined with what has never been seen before from the depots and magazines - masterpieces that are not hidden, but rarely come to light for reasons of conservation or simple space alone, already on loan all over the world but never shown here in Stuttgart - offer a new perspective.