Course Catalog

German Art of the 20th Century through World War II

Between 1900 and 1945 Germany experienced two world wars, numerous technological and cultural changes and several art movements, many with a specific political element. The earliest art movement, German Expressionism, began before World War I and emphasized bold colors, as well as the artist's inner feelings or ideas over replicating reality. There were two main groups of German expressionist artists: Die Brücke (The Bridge) led by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) led by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) was associated with the post-World War I Weimar Republic and arose in opposition to expressionism. The Nazi regime banned modern art and this course examines artists associated with these avant-garde movements whose work was subsequently condemned as “degenerate” or “subversive” and spotlighted in the Nazi’s 1937 Degenerate Art exhibition. Week by Week Outline Week 1: This session examines the first of two German Expressionist movements, Die Brücke (The Bridge), founded in Dresden in 1905. Responding to French art movements such as Impressionism and Fauvism, the group rejected the traditional academic style of art and sought to find a bridge (hence the name) between the past and the present artistic movements. In addition to painting, they revived older media, particularly woodblock prints. Their most well-known painter and printmaker, Ernst Kirchner, created imagery considered so ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis that it was featured in the 1937 Munich art exhibition Entarte Kunst (Degenerate Art), the focus of week 6 of this series. Week 2: The second of two German Expressionist movements, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), was founded in Munich in 1911. Artists associated with Der Blaue Reiter were influenced by contemporary non-figurative art in France, particularly Fauvism which emphasized strong color. The founding members and leaders of the group were Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, both of whom shared an interest in abstracted forms and bold colors, which they felt had spiritual values. Week 3: This week focuses on women painters, printmakers and sculptors associated with German Expressionism, particularly Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter, Marianne von Werefkin and Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz. Week 4: This session examines Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) a modern realist movement in German art at the end of World War I that arose as a move away from expressionism. It was marked by an objective depiction of the world around them, as opposed to the abstract, and was associated with portraiture and self-portraiture. Many artists, such as Max Beckmann, Otto Dix and George Grosz, a shell-shocked survivor of the “Great War,” created caricatures of the carefree, bohemian inhabitants of Berlin and the political corruption that marked the short-lived Weimar Republic which ended in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. Week 5: Art of the Third Reich. All modern art including German Expressionism was stricken from artistic life by gradations after 1933 as ‘un-German.’ Nazi art was primarily representational and state-approved artists modeled paintings and sculptures on themes of racial purity, glorification of German citizens, militarism and Adolph Hitler’s ideals which were linked with country life, health, and the Aryan race. Posters of Hitler in Nazi Germany depicted him as a kind, gentle leader who possessed immense strength and a passion for art and culture. Week 6: 1937 Munich Summer Art Exhibitions. Visitors could experience two spectacular art shows held only a few hundred yards apart. The inaugural exhibit at the House of German Art in July was the Great Exhibition of German Art, showcasing what the Nazi party considered Germany’s finest art. Simultaneously, in a nearby building so visitors could compare the artworks, Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) offered 650 paintings, sculptures and prints the Nazis had rejected on ideological grounds. The Degenerate Art exhibition featured primarily German avant-garde art confiscated from public museums and private art collections. After its Munich opening, the Degenerate Art Exhibit traveled to eleven other cities in Germany and Austria. In each installation, the works were poorly hung and surrounded by graffiti and handwritten labels mocking the artists and their creations.

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