Gallery established in 1848 by Emil Richter; subsequently owned by Hermann Holst and then R. H. Meier. Renowned at the turn of the century for showing contemporary German and international art. Organized three annual Brücke exhibitions (1907–09), significantly increasing awareness of the artists' group. Under Holst also established a publishing house with a printshop, which published the galleries' exhibition catalogues and other related materials. Served as exclusive publisher of all of Käthe Kollwitz's prints from approximately 1910 to 1930, when Alexander von der Becke took over the gallery's stock of the artist's print oeuvre. Also issued two of her print raisonnés, in 1913 and 1927. Promoted several second-generation Expressionists, such as the Dresden-born Conrad Felixmüller, who in 1915 and 1918 signed contracts for his graphics with the gallery. Negotiated a one-year sales contract with the activist artists' group Dresden Secession Group 1919, hosting two exhibitions and issuing both accompanying catalogues. Also published the monthly Expressionist periodical Neue Blätter für Kunst und Dichtung (Newspaper for art and poetry) (1918–21), edited by Hugo Zehder, featuring prints by the Dresden Secession Group 1919. Went bankrupt and was forced to close in 1930.

Selected Bibliography

Hoffmann, Meike. Leben und Schaffen der Künstlergruppe Brücke, 1905–1913: Mit einem kommentierten Werkverzeichnis der Geschäfts- und Ausstellungsgraphik. Berlin: Reimer, 2005.

Seidel, Anne. "Offen für die Moderne. Galerien in Dresden zur Zeit der Künstlergruppe Brücke." Dresdner Kunstblätter 45, no. 5 (2001): 163–66.

Weinstein, Joan. The End of Expressionism: Art and the November Revolution in Germany, 1918–19. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.