The Degenerate Art Show was exhibited in Munich in 1937 by the Nazis. One might think that the majority of the art displayed in the Degenerate Art
show was done by Jewish artists, but "only 6 of the 112 artists in [the
Degenerate Art show] were Jewish." (Entartete Kunst) So then what constituted
"degenerate" art in the eyes of Nazis? For the most part, Modern Art and German
Expressionism. "Artists were attacked for working in avant-garde styles and for
exhibiting foreign influences in their work. "Degenerate" artists painted
landscapes and city scenes using colors that did not replicate nature: yellow
skies, red horses, blue faces. They employed forms that were angular, contorted,
or geometric...Anything that did not express the Aryan ideal was
condemned." (Entartete Kunst) Works by Kirchner, Kandinsky, Chagall, Matisse,
Picasso, and many others were displayed.
(John Heartfield, Hurrah, the Butter is All Gone! 1935)
It should be interesting to note that John Heartfield, who made satirical
photomontages of the Nazi regime, was not one of the artists whose work was
featured in this exhibit; actually, "...the most heavily represented artist in
Degenerate Art was Emil Nolde, who had been a Nazi party member since 1920."
("Judge for Yourselves!"-- the Degenerate Art exhibition as a political
spectacle, Neil Livi) Why was his work represented in this exhibit? Well his
works were an example of German Expressionism. To exclude a Nazi critic from
this exhibit but to include a Nazi himself is quite baffling, but goes to show
exactly what the Nazis found distasteful in art, to consider "degenerate."
In the exhibit, the art was displayed crammed together, grouped with different art periods mixing together, and with inaccurate quotes by artists. This arrangement, these inaccuracies, may be seen as "displays by the National Socialist state of its power to exercise its will with impunity." ("Judge for Yourselves!")
By: Chelsea Reintjes
No comments:
Post a Comment