In the genesis of 20th Century Moderism, artists were looking for new ways to define what art could be. In 1911 several German artists formed a group called Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) after Wassily Kandinsky’s painting was rejected for an exhibition. Artists within the group were Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Mark, Paul Klee, August Macke, Marianne von Werefkin, Lyonel Feininger, Albert Bloch and Alexej von Jawlensky. Mark loved horses and Kandinsky considered the colour dark blue to have a spiritual quality. Together they came up with the name. The group shared a quest to convey visual expression by abstracting form and using intensified colour. Their work became a powerful influence and made a lasting contribution for the art that forever followed. The group disbanded in 1914 and Franz Marc and August Macke were killed during combat in WWI. Although short lived the group’s legacy lives on.
The sculpture has an added quality of a Don Quixote-like figure. The tip of the lance has a graphite lead embedded in it.
