“The Guggenheim New York presents the first monographic exhibition in the United States on the German artist Gabriele Münter (b. 1877, Berlin; d. 1962, Murnau am Stafflesee, Germany) in nearly thirty years. Münter was a critical figure in the advancement of modernism in early twentieth-century Europe. Gabriele Münter: Contours of a World will focus on her heightened Expressionist production from around 1908 to 1920, while also highlighting her later developments. The presentation will comprise some sixty paintings and nineteen of her early photographs across three galleries. Taken during Münter’s travels around the southern and midwestern U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century, these photographs will be exhibited in this country for the first time.

Gabriele Münter: Contours of a World will illuminate Münter’s disruptive and underrecognized practice while challenging historical narratives that have sidelined women artists. For decades, Münter has been relegated to a minor figure in the history of German Expressionism and the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider, 1911–14) movement, overshadowed by her then-companion and creative partner, Vasily Kandinsky. This exhibition corrects that framing, establishing Münter as a prolific and innovative artist who created significant work across mediums and movements throughout her long career. The show’s counter-canonical approach builds on the Guggenheim’s legacy of upending traditional art-historical frameworks and upholding radical art in all its forms.” — Guggenheim New York

“Münter’s unwavering curiosity about the world around her shaped both her life and art. She wielded color and line in remarkable ways, and this spirit of exploration led her to become a uniquely international artist,” says Megan Fontanella, Curator, Modern Art and Provenance, Guggenheim New York. “A formative trip to the United States around the turn of the twentieth century sparked her creative vision, as she pursued art through the medium of photography. To now organize her debut exhibition at a New York museum, 125 years later, is both extraordinary and long overdue.”

Gabriele Münter: Contours of a World is organized by Megan Fontanella, Curator, Modern Art and Provenance, Guggenheim New York. The photography selection is cocurated with Victoria Horrocks, Curatorial Fellow, Photography, Guggenheim New York.

Title image: Gabriele Münter, Head of a Young Girl (Junges Mädchen), 1908. Oil on board, 16 × 13 in. (40.6 × 33 cm). Des Moines Art Center, Mildred M. Bohen Collection. © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photo: Courtesy Des Moines Art Center 

Images courtesy Guggenheim New York.