The 'New Artists' Association of Munich' was founded as an avant-garde exhibiting society in Munich in 1909. With Wassily Kandinsky as president and members including Alexei Jawlensky and Gabriele Münter, the association mounted controversial exhibitions of Futurist-influenced work in 1909, 1910 and 1911. Kandinsky resigned in 1911 and with Franz Marc, who had defended the NKV against widespread criticism the previous year, founded the Blaue Reiter.