Der Sturm
A Forum for the Avant-Garde, 1912–1929

In March 1912 Herwarth Walden opened his gallery Der Sturm (“the Storm”) in Berlin. For the next decade and a half the gallery was to be a leading modern art venue. Even the name indicates the energy and gusto with which its founder brought avant-garde artists from across Europe to Berlin.

Walden initially showed young, little-known expressionists, futurists and cubists. In the 1920s, with his sound instinct for new visual forms, he exhibited the Hungarian constructivists, the Russian Ivan Puni and Merz artist Kurt Schwitters. He was both tireless and belligerent in championing “his” artists and Der Sturm thus became a byword for progressive art movements.

Walden had already founded a magazine called “Der Sturm” in 1910. In its pages he attacked the artistic and cultural establishment with mordant wit. He was also adept at connecting avant-garde artists and organising a range of activities, such as lectures, soirées and dances, in order to make these new art movements known to the public.