Der Fels () was group of German Expressionist artists that existed from around 1920no exact date of foundation is known to 1927.
History The group's origins lay in the meeting of Franz Bronstert, Fritz Fuhrken and Georg Philipp Wörlen in a World War I prisoner of war camp in Ripon, England. Other members of the group were Reinhard Hilker and the Austrian Carry Hauser. Wörlen, who was significantly older than the other members, was the driving force. At their last joint exhibition Fritz Stuckenberg also took part. All the group's artists were later condemned by the National Socialist government as entartet ("degenerate").
Der Fels published a series of eight portfolios of prints (Verlag Krieg, Leipzig). The first one also contained a manifesto by Heinz Klapproth:
"Do you see things as they are? Form is disguise, deception. Things are not as you think you see them! Therefore become still and simple, because you are looking with your eyes and seeing only the surface. The artist fights titanic battles to win the souls of things, to penetrate to their depths, to vanquish the surface. The result of this is EXPRESSION - and this is what unites the people of the Fels."Seht Ihr die Dinge wie sie sind? Form ist Verkleidung, Augentrug. Die Dinge sind nicht, wie Ihr sie zu sehen glaubt! Drum werdet still und einfach, denn Ihr schaut aus Euren Augen und schaut nur die Oberfläche. Der Künstler kämpft Titanenkampf, den Dingen die Seele abzugewinnen, in ihre Tiefe zu dringen, die Oberfläche zu überwinden. So wird AUSDRUCK. - Und solches eint die Felsleute. As cited by Franz X. Hofer: Woran „Der Fels“ zerbrach, Essay in Der Fels, Künstlergemeinschaft 1921–1927 (see below)
Selection of group exhibitions 1921: Hagen, Museum Folkwang 1921: Hagen, Kunst-Kabinett Kollock 1921: Landesmuseum Münster 1922: Bremen, Graphisches Kabinett Fedelhören 1922: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf 1922: Kunsthalle Bremerhaven 1922: Hamburg, Kunstsalon Maria Kunde (Graphik) 1922: Salzburg, Moderne Galerie (Staatsgalerie) 1922: Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern 1922: Berlin, Kunstsalon Heller 1923: Werkbundhaus Essen 1923: Barmer Ruhmeshalle 1923: Oldenburg, Kunstsalon Lappan 1923: Ulm, Hermelin-Verlag 1923: Kunsthalle Kiel 1923: Kunsthalle Barmen 1924: Landesmuseum Münster 1924: Städtisches Museum Elberfeld (Von der Heydt-Museum) 1925: Städtisches Museum Gelsenkirchen (Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen) 1926: Vienna, Kunstsalon Würthle 1926: Eisenach, Kunstsalon Messing 1927: Städtische Gemäldegalerie Bochum (Museum Bochum – Kunstsammlung) 1991: Passau, Museum Moderner Kunst (retrospective)
Sources Otto Breicha, Franz X. Hofer and Franz Theodor Csokor: Der Fels, Künstlergemeinschaft, 1921–1927, Stiftung Wörlen, Passau 1991, (Museumskatalog, Landstrich; Nr. 15)
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