Painting with Troika - Public domain dedication, Art Institute of Chicago

Born in Berlin in 1877, Gabriele Münter was one of the leading German Expressionist painters of her time. She began her artistic training at the Phalanx School in Munich, where she met Wassily Kandinsky, with whom she later co-founded the Blue Rider movement. Münter's early work was influenced by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, but she soon developed her own unique style, characterised by vivid colours, simplified forms and a sense of spontaneity. She often painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits, imbuing her work with an emotional intensity and subjective interpretation of reality. In 1911, Münter co-founded the Blue Rider movement with Kandinsky and other artists. The group aimed to promote abstract art and spiritualism, and Münter exhibited her work with the group and participated in its publications and events. During the Second World War, Münter was forced to hide her paintings from the Nazis. After the war she returned to painting and continued to exhibit her work until her death in 1962. Her contributions to the Blue Rider movement and Expressionism are still celebrated today.