Art History

Art History

Degenerative Art

2/12/15

In Berlin, 1933, The nazi part came to power. They began burning book and attacking artists and writers. 

in 1937, the Nazi's opened an art exhibition which they called 'Entarte Kunst', or Degenerative Art. 

Over time, art had gone from being something shocking and dangerous to something that was harmless. Adolph Hitler had promised a new Germany, one that was cleansed of what he called 'Degenerates', and had an idea to create a master race, also known as the Aryan Race.

The show had a claustrophobic effect, and once shocking art was now being hung on the walls, crowded, off center and sometimes upside down and surrounded by graffiti to be ridiculed. 

Hitler himself, was an artist, however was failed to have been recognized and was turned down by the Academy of Fine Arts. 

Expressionism: A modernist Movement, initially in poetry and painting, originated in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods and ideas.

Gradually, when Hitler rose to power, World War 1 became the turning point, and in 1914, he sent the Expressionists to war and into the trenches, with the intent to send them crazy. 

It was because of his own experience with war and those who had put him there that Hitler decided to go into politics. He abandoned his dream to become an Artist and formed his own party, The National Socialist Party, or, the Nazi's. 

He was thrown into a Bavarian prison for trying to overthrow the Government.

Knowing what was degenerate became a medical science, and being degenerate meant that you were diagnosed as crazy. Expressionists, however, considered themselves the mentally ill in the world of art. 

In the 1920's, fewer than 27,000 Nazi's were in the country, and when Berlin became the capital of the international art world, fewer people cared for Hitler and his party. in 1929, the great depression broke the German democracy. 

The Nazi's were considered the opposite of the Government Germany had at the time.

The Nazi's began moving through Germany, going into Museums and confiscating art and firing directors, known as 'Vacationing'. During this time, the Bauhaus was closed. Books of famous writers were burned in Berlin.

The arts were affected; Films were banned, abstraction wasn't allowed, and music that had deviated from Classical was forbidden, due to this, Jazz music was attacked. Hitler resolved to create a new culture. The first Nazi project was a building that was a museum, and was named 'The House of German Art', or 'Haus Der Deutschen Kunst'. The Art within was picked by Hitler himself, and all of it was for sale, the main buyer being Hitler. The Nazi depiction of art was classical. Statues of men were all well build and muscular, and paintings of women were all nude and baring children. 

The was against Modernist Art was reaching a climax. Pieces by people such as Wassily Kandinsky were hung up in the 'Degenerate Art' show, and overall, over 16,000 pieces were collected. Every single piece within the exhibit, if not understood by the witnesses, were in there for a reason, from such things as being sick minded, to Jewish, Communist and Bolshevic. 112 Artists were singled out as Degenerate, and only 6 of them were Jewish.

Max Beckmann: 1884 - 1950

Beckmann was a German Painter, Sculptor, Draughtsman and Printmaker. While being considered an Expressionist Artists, he rejected both the Movement and the term. He was dismissed from his teaching position in an art school in Frankfurt for being a 'Cultural Bolshevic', and in 1937, more than 500 pieces of his work were taken from museums and confiscated by the Government, and several were put o display at the Degenerate Art Exhibition.

Beckmann's work showed his experiences in the first and second world war, the political change of the 1920's and 1930's, the rise of Nazism, exile in Amsterdam and his final emigration to the United States.

'Der Nacht'
1918 - 1919

Otto Dix: 1891 - 1969

Dix was a German painter and print maker, who was profoundly affected by him time spent in the war. He was also regarded a Degenerate by the Nazi's, and was consequently fired from his teaching job at Dresden Academy. His paintings, 'The Trench' and 'War Cripples', were features in the Degenerate Art Exhibition, and were later burned. 

He was forced to join the 'Reichkammer der bildenden Kuenste, and had promised to paint only inoffensive landscapes, 

In 1939, he was arrested in a charge of being involved in a plot against Hitler, but was later released.

'War Cripple'
1920

Emil Nolde: 1867 - 1956

Nolde was a painter,print maker, and a watercolourist. He first trained as a woodcarver, and later studied as a painter. He was one of the first Experssionists, and is known for his bold choice in colour and intense markings. 

Nolde was a supporter of the Nazi party from the early 1920's, having become a member of its Danish section, and expressed negative opinions about Jewish Artists, while considering Expressionism to be a distinctively Germanic style. 

Hitler, however, rejected all forms of Modernism and 'Degenerate' Art, and so the Nazi regime condemned his work. over 1,000 pieces of his work were removed from museums, more than any other Artist, and some were also included in the Degenerate Art Exhibition. Despite his protests, he was not allowed to paint, even in private, after 1941. During this time, however, he created hundreds of watercolour pieces, which he hid, and called the 'Unpainted Pictures'.

'Candle Dancers'
1912

George Grosz: 1893 - 1959

Was one of the principal artists associated with the Neue Sachlichkeit, along with Max Beckmann and Otto Dix. Grosz was also a member of the Berlin Dada group.

He became deeply involved with left wing pacifist activity.

He was one one of the first of the Expressionist, and was, as a result, made a public enemy by the Nazi's. He used to speak his mind and was known for creating very grotesque pieces. He used his art as a weapon. He liked to poke fun at everyone, especially the Nazi's. It was the Nazi's declaration of war against modern art that made him a public enemy. 

Grosz moved to the United States when he started getting threatened. The Nazi's took everything away from him, including him German Citizenship, his bank account, and he was also made an enemy of the German state. 

Ernst Kirchner: 1880 - 1938

Kirchner was seen as one of the most talented and influential of German Expressionists. He was motivated by the fear of humanities place in the modern world, and its lost feelings of spirituality and authenticity, as well as the modern world itself. He had conflicting attitudes about the past and the present, and rejected academic styles.

He volunteered the first world war but was discharged after a breakdown. Afterwards, he settled in Davos, Switzerland, because of his illness, and shot himself to death because of depression in 1938

Neue Sachlichkeit: The new objectivity is a term used to characterised the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music and architecture created to adapt it. 

The Degenerate Art Exhibition toured Germany for over 4 years, and over 3 million people visited it. In 1939, an Auction in Switzerland had all of the huge artist, such as Picasso, Matisse, and other German painters were sold off. Hitler was selling German heritage. 

Every year, there was a new exhibition at the German house of art, and Hitler was always the biggest buyer.