Die Blaue Vier

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Blaue Vier, Die (The Blue Four). A group of four painters—Feininger, Jawlensky, Kandinsky, and Klee—formed in 1924 at the instigation of the German art dealer Galka Scheyer (1889–1945) with the aim of promoting their work abroad (where there was a better market for art than in economically depressed Germany). The four had all been associated with the Blaue Reiter, and Scheyer chose the name ‘Blaue Vier’ because ‘a group of four would be significant though not arrogant … the colour blue was added because of the association with the early group of artists in Munich that founded the “Blue Horseman” … and also because blue is a spiritual colour'. In addition, Kandinsky wanted a name that did not suggest an ‘ism'. The artists signed an agreement on 31 March 1924 and Scheyer embarked for the USA in May, taking with her a selection of their works. She staged several Blaue Vier exhibitions at various venues over the next decade, together with lectures; the venture was a moderate financial success and an important factor in spreading the reputation of the four artists. Scheyer settled in the USA and became an American citizen. Her own collection of paintings by the Blaue Vier is now in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California.