Imagination and Form

Adolf Erbslöh (1881–1947) is one of the influential, yet often overlooked, painters of the modern era. The exhibition invites visitors to rediscover his distinctive visual world. As a co-founder and later chairman of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists’ Association of Munich), he was at the heart of the avant-garde circle centred on Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky and Franz Marc. Through his art and his close connections within the Munich art scene, Erbslöh played a decisive role in shaping the artistic climate around 1910 – the very milieu from which the Blue Rider emerged.
In his 1929 essay ‘Phantasie und Form’ (Imagination and Form), he articulated the central ideas underlying his understanding of art. In it, imagination is presented not as the opposite of order, but as its very source: ‘The work of art is creation, imagination made form.’ The exhibition takes up this idea and shows how Erbslöh developed a distinctive visual language from his inner visions. He moved between expressive use of colour and an increasingly constructive composition. His works combine vibrant colours, clear lines and an alert, reflective gaze.
From his Impressionist beginnings, through his encounter with the art of Paul Cézanne and the Cubists, to the tectonic landscapes of the 1920s, the exhibition explores a central question in his oeuvre: how can the fleeting multiplicity of phenomena be transformed into a lasting pictorial order?
The Franz Marc Museum, whose research focus and collection are closely linked to the Munich avant-garde, presents around 40 paintings in this exhibition. Works on loan come from, amongst others, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum in Düren and the Schloßmuseum Murnau. Many of the works come from private collections and some are on public display for the first time.

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Last edited on 06.08.2026