Those familiar with the Brücke group usually associate it with painting. Founded by architecture students Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, the group is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernism and representatives of Expressionism. Less well known, but no less relevant, is the applied art that the group produced. The Brücke-Museum spotlighted it with the exhibition Kunst Hand Werk Brücke last week (05.03.2026). It has been a long time since I visited an exhibition so thoughtfully curated. The Brücke-Museum explores the artists’ relationship to the applied arts in three chapters, organized by material — metal, wood, and textiles — with a short introduction at the beginning. Each material chapter was designed by a different creative practitioner. Architect Andrea Faraguna curated the metal works in paper display cases and invited artist Vittorio to design the interiors. Pinned to folded paper shirts, laid out on stepped structures, or resting on paper cushions, the Brücke objects are displayed within. I’m not quite sure where art ends and craftsmanship begins. Highlights on display include a cigarette extinguisher made for Hanna Bekker vom Rath, alongside strangely proportioned letter openers, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s bangle made from twisted silver strips (which I wouldn’t mind owning myself), just like the six silver teaspoons placed opposite it. Then comes wood, and visitors are thrown from the calming paper into the eclectic collages of Jerszy Seymour, who designed this section of the exhibition — a contemporary cave, as he calls it. The comic woodworm that appears throughout the collages becomes a recurring motif and a cheerful harbinger of wood’s decay, guiding visitors through the opulent display. In the best possible way, the whole thing is overstimulating, not least because of the Brücke designs themselves. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Bett für Erna Schilling” (“Bed for Erna Schilling”) dominates the room, with carved heads as connecting elements and all the other small creatures twisting and winding through the headboard and footboard. Around it are arranged vessels, really good boxes, and, of course, picture frames.

The final section, textiles, was designed by artist Kasia Fudakowski in collaboration with graphic designer Santiago da Silva, and the two suspend the works in the space. The centerpiece is surely the textile design for Kirchner’s studio, embroidered by Erna Schilling after the artist’s designs. Authorship, especially at the intersection of art and craft, is a major theme, and the exhibition treats it as such. Textile workers are credited as co-authors. Brücke’s color palette feels surprisingly contemporary, and some of its motifs are almost camp. I could stand for hours in front of Erna Schilling’s “Sonntag in den Schweizer Bergen” (“Sunday in the Swiss Mountains”), based on a design by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. For the show and for the research that accompanied it, the curators tried crafting themselves last year. One worked with jewelry designer Elisabeth Schotte, one with wood sculptor Valentin José Kammel, and one with textile artist Lisa Reichmann. It’s just one of many details that show how much care went into the exhibition. And because the Brücke Museum does not think of art without craft, there is also an extensive supporting program. Off to Dahlem for carving, melting, and embroidery. Brücke is calling.

Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Nick Ash / Credit: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff; Brücke-Museum; Karl und Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Stiftung; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026

Brücke-Museum, Bussardsteig 9, 14195 Berlin–Dahlem; map
Kunst Hand Werk Brücke until 21.06.2026

@brueckemuseum