Short-lived, politically progressive publishing house established in 1917. Emerged from the pacifist circle of young, politically engaged artists and intellectuals, including artists Peter August Böckstiegel, Conrad Felixmüller, Otto Lange, and Constantin von Mitschke-Collande, and writers Walter Rheiner, Heinar Schilling, and Felix Stiemer, among others, who during World War I informally organized themselves as the Expressionist Working Group Dresden. This group later evolved into the Dresden Secession Group 1919. Its aim was to advance contemporary literature, music, and art; to work collectively; and to create a link between artists and the people. From 1918 to 1922, under the aegis of Schilling, published the monthly periodical Menschen (Mankind), which included many woodcuts by Felixmüller. In 1921 initiated the portfolio series Die Graphische Reihe (The print series), with each volume typically devoted to one artist; within this series published four port-folios by Otto Dix, as well as others by Karl Jakob Hirsch, Bernhard Kretzschmar, von Mitschke-Collande, and Lasar Segall. After various members of the circle successively left, and facing increasing financing problems due to rising inflation, stopped publishing after 1922.

Selected Bibliography

Krempel, Ulrich, ed. Conrad Felixmüller: Die Dresdner Jahre 1910–1934. Exh. cat. Dresden: Gemäldegalerie, 1997.

Löffler, Fritz. "Dresden from 1913 and the Dresdner Sezession Gruppe 1919." In German Expressionism, 1915–1925: The Second Generation, edited by Stephanie Barron, pp. 57–79. Exh. cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.