Gabriele Münter was a German painter who lived from 1877 to 1962. She was a member of the group of expressionist artists called Der Blaue Reiter (the blue rider) that was founded 1911 in Munich. She was born in Berlin where she also grew up and went to an artschool for girls. After two years of travel in America she settled in Munich to study art at the phalanx school. There she met Wassily Kandinsky who was her teacher and she became his girlfriend for many years. Together they travelled a lot, for example to Tunisia and the Netherlands. When WWI started they fled Germany and went to Switzerland, there the two separated and Münter continued to Stockholm while Kandinsky went to Russia. After WWI Münter returned to Germany. During WWII she hid Kandinskys works and those of other members of the Blue Rider from the Nazis. She died 1962 in Murnau.