In 1937 in Munich the Nazis held an art exhibition of what they called Entartete Kunst
Degenerate art
Degenerate art was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, was removed from state owned museums and banned in Nazi …
What was the degenerate art exhibition of 1937?
Degenerate Art Exhibition. Cover of the exhibition program: Degenerate Art exhibition, 1937. The Degenerate Art Exhibition (German: Die Ausstellung "Entartete Kunst") was an art exhibition organized by Adolf Ziegler and the Nazi Party in Munich from 19 July to 30 November 1937.
What was “Entartete Kunst”?
…of these exhibits was “Entartete Kunst,” which opened in Munich in July 1937 and was advertised as “culture documents of the decadent work of Bolsheviks and Jews.” The works on exhibit included only a small segment of the almost 16,000 works of modern art confiscated from German museums on… …called it simply the “Exhibition of Degenerate Art.”
How many works of art were in the great German art exhibition?
The exhibition presented 650 works of art, confiscated from German museums, and was staged in counterpoint to the concurrent Great German Art Exhibition. The day before the exhibition started, Hitler delivered a speech declaring "merciless war" on cultural disintegration, attacking "chatterboxes, dilettantes and art swindlers".
What was the purpose of Nazi art exhibitions in Weimar Germany?
The exhibitions were intended to ridicule and make examples of those artists and musicians considered inferior according to Nazi policy, as well as the work of modernists contrary to the Nazis’ ideals of German culture. Weimar Germany during the 1920s had been a centre for experimental, avant-gardeart, music, literature and plays.
What was the purpose of the degenerate art exhibition?
In 1937, 740 modern works were exhibited in the defamatory show Degenerate Art in Munich in order to “educate” the public on the “art of decay.” The exhibition purported to demonstrate that modernist tendencies, such as abstraction, are the result of genetic inferiority and society's moral decline.
Who was responsible for mounting the Degenerate Art exhibition in 1937?
Adolf ZieglerThe Degenerate Art exhibition (German: Die Ausstellung "Entartete Kunst") was an art exhibition organized by Adolf Ziegler and the Nazi Party in Munich from 19 July to 30 November 1937.
How many people attended the Entartete Kunst exhibition?
2 million visitorsBy the end of the exhibition on November 30th, 1937, and to this day, Entartete Kunst remains the most visited modern art exhibition in history with over 2 million visitors.
What kind of art was exhibited in the Degenerate Art exhibition?
A selection of the seized paintings, drawings and sculptures was shown at the infamous 'Degenerate Art' exhibition, which opened in Munich in 1937 and subsequently toured across the Reich.
What is the meaning of Entartete Kunst?
degenerate art, German Entartete Kunst, term used by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe art that did not support the ideals of Nazism. It was also the title of a propagandistically designed Nazi exhibition of modern art held in Munich in 1937.
What art did the Germans burn?
Klimt Paintings in Schloss Immendorf Fire The Schloss Immendorf castle in Austria contained 13 paintings by Gustav Klimt when the retreating Nazis demolished it with explosives.
What role did art play in Hitler's plan?
By propagating the theory of degenerate art, the Nazis combined their anti-Semitism with their drive to control the culture, thus consolidating public support for both campaigns.
How many people visited the degenerate art exhibition?
A great irony of the Nazi's modern art purge, reports Deutsche Welle, is that the “Degenerate Art” turned out to be the most-popular modern art show of all time, with over 2 million patrons visiting the exhibit on its multi-city tour.
What were the German Expressionist artists trying to convey?
German Expressionist art depicted the subjective feelings of the artists about the disillusion they saw in society as the promise of war loomed. As a result, artworks were profoundly emotive, unrestrained and shocking, as they attempted to convey ideas over the type of reality that was being experienced.
What was the purpose of abstract expressionism?
Abstract Expressionism is an artistic movement of the mid-20th century comprising diverse styles and techniques and emphasizing especially an artist's liberty to convey attitudes and emotions through nontraditional and usually nonrepresentational means.
What happened to degenerate art?
Some of the degenerate art was sold at auction in Switzerland in 1939 and more was disposed of through private dealers. About 5,000 items were secretly burned in Berlin later that year. The Sick Child by Edvard Munch now in the Tate collection, was sold at the 1939 auction.
What happened to degenerate art?
Some of the degenerate art was sold at auction in Switzerland in 1939 and more was disposed of through private dealers. About 5,000 items were secretly burned in Berlin later that year. The Sick Child by Edvard Munch now in the Tate collection, was sold at the 1939 auction.
How many people visited the degenerate art exhibition?
A great irony of the Nazi's modern art purge, reports Deutsche Welle, is that the “Degenerate Art” turned out to be the most-popular modern art show of all time, with over 2 million patrons visiting the exhibit on its multi-city tour.
What role did art play in Hitler's plan?
By propagating the theory of degenerate art, the Nazis combined their anti-Semitism with their drive to control the culture, thus consolidating public support for both campaigns.
Which artist was the original leader of the expressionist movement?
Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) was also used as the name for the Expressionist artist group founded in 1911 by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc.
What was the purpose of the German Art Exhibition?
In the first half of 1937, preparations were underway for the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung ("Great German Art Exhibition"), which was to showcase art approved by the Nazis. An open invitation to German artists resulted in 15,000 works being submitted to the exhibition jury, which included allies of Goebbels.
Where was Entartete Kunst in 1938?
Entartete Kunst, poster for the 1938 exhibition in the house of art at Koenigsplatz in Munich. Another Degenerate Art Exhibition was hosted a few months later in Berlin, and later in Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Weimar, Halle, Vienna and Salzburg, to be seen by another million or so people.
What was the degenerate art exhibition?
The Degenerate Art Exhibition ( German: Die Ausstellung "Entartete Kunst") was an art exhibition organized by Adolf Ziegler and the Nazi Party in Munich from 19 July to 30 November 1937. The exhibition presented 650 works of art, confiscated from German museums, and was staged in counterpoint to the concurrent Great German Art Exhibition. The day before the exhibition started, Hitler delivered a speech declaring "merciless war" on cultural disintegration, attacking "chatterboxes, dilettantes and art swindlers". Degenerate art was defined as works that "insult German feeling, or destroy or confuse natural form or simply reveal an absence of adequate manual and artistic skill". One million people attended the exhibition in its first six weeks. A U.S. critic commented "there are probably plenty of people—art lovers—in Boston, who will side with Hitler in this particular purge".
What is the museum of modern art?
The Museum of Modern Art has now established a digital exhibit that showcases artwork from the Degenerate Art Exhibition. MoMA highlights a collection of work that were deemed as "degenerate art" and removed from German state-owned museums by the Nazi government.
What is degenerate art?
Degenerate art was defined as works that "insult German feeling, or destroy or confuse natural form or simply reveal an absence of adequate manual and artistic skill". One million people attended the exhibition in its first six weeks.
Why did Goebbels propose the exhibition?
The art historian Olaf Peters says Goebbels' motivation in proposing the exhibition was partly to obscure the weakness of the works in the Great German Art Exhibition, and partly to regain Hitler's trust after the dictator's replacement of Goebbel's jurors with Hoffmann, who Goebbels feared as a rival.
What was the purpose of the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung?
The concurrent Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung ("Great German Art Exhibition") was intended to show the more classical and "racially pure" type of art advocated by the Nazi regime. That exhibition was hosted near Hofgarten, in the Haus der Deutschen Kunst.
When did the Entartete Kunst exhibition open?
…of these exhibits was “Entartete Kunst,” which opened in Munich in July 1937 and was advertised as “culture documents of the decadent work of Bolsheviks and Jews.” The works on exhibit included only a small segment of the almost 16,000 works of modern art confiscated from German museums on…
Where did the artist Entartete Kunst teach?
…traveling exhibition “Entartete Kunst” (“Degenerate Art”). For four years (1935–39), he taught at a Jewish high school in Cologne until he fled with his family from Germany to London. He was temporarily interned (1940–41) as an enemy alien and then returned to London, where he lived essentially in poverty.…
How many paintings were in the Reichsministerium for Volksaufklärung and Propaganda?
The list of more than 16,000 artworks was produced by the Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda (Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) in 1942 or thereabouts. It seems that the inventory was compiled as a final record, after the sales and disposals of the confiscated art had been completed in the summer of 1941.
What is the Nazi inventory of degenerate art?
Explore 'Entartete Kunst ': The Nazis' inventory of 'degenerate art'. 'Entartete Kunst ' (or 'Degenerate Art') was a derogatory term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany. An exhibition entitled 'Entartete Kunst' opened in Munich in 1937 displaying works deemed to be 'an insult to German feeling'. It went on to tour the country.
When was Harry Fischer's collection?
Harry Fischer apparently collected most or all of the material in the Fischer Collection during the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a view to donating it to the V&A. Although it is not yet known how, when and for what purpose Fischer obtained the list, he seems to have possessed it from at least the late 1960s. The inventory's two volumes appear to have been bound (or re-bound) at around this time, and they are stored in a matching dark grey box with the title 'Entartete Kunst' stamped in gold on the spine.
Where are the German copies of Volume 1?
Two other copies of an earlier version of Volume 1 (A – G) are known to have survived the War, and these are now held by the German Federal Archives in Berlin (R55/20744, R55/20745). Both copies have the same hand-written title, in black ink: Beschlagnahmte Werke/nach Museen geordnet ( Confiscated works, arranged by museum ).
Why did the jury of the First Great German Art Exhibition have problems?
On June 2, Gauleiter Adolf Wagner had reported to Joseph Goebbels that problems had arisen in the selection of works for the First Great German Art Exhibition because the jury, which consisted of artists, had followed its own taste and opinion of the artists rather than the official view of art in making its choice.
What was the Munich exhibition?
The controversial exhibition was hosted at the Institute of Archeology in the Hofgarten in Munich and most of the 650 works were displayed without frames. The art pieced included sculptured, paintings as well as prints by Marc Chagall, Georg Grosz, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Georg Kolbe, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Franz Marc, Emil Nolde and others. As the exhibition focused on German works, the confiscated pieces by Pablo Picasso , [ 5] Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes and Piet Mondrian were not displayed. The event lasted until 30 November 1937 and more than 2 million people came to visit. In order to achieve an effect that appeared “chaotic,” the works in the exhibition rooms were deliberately hung in an unflattering manner and had vituperative slogans written on the walls. Thus, the entire exhibition was designed for its propagandistic effect. Together with its counterpart, the “ First Great German Art Exhibition ,” the “ Degenerate Art ” exhibition was conceived as a double propaganda show in which works of art considered “degenerate” were systematically juxtaposed with the “pure German art” promoted by the system. Indeed, this juxtaposition was also necessary because there were no clear definitions of “degenerate” and “pure German” art, and both were only given contours in direct confrontation. The exhibition was designed to radically attack the art rejected by the National Socialists.
What was the Degenerate Art Exhibition?
The exhibition presented 650 works of art, confiscated from German museums, and was staged in counterpoint to the concurrent Great German Art Exhibition. The exhibition included works of Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Franz Marc, and Emil Nolde . [ 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 ] It was not a singular event in Munich in 1937, but fell with the “ First Great German Art Exhibition ” as a counter-exhibition in a framework with a large number of cultural events in the “Festival Summer Munich 1937”.
What was the purpose of the Reich's propaganda exhibition?
The Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda began planning an exhibition in the spring of 1937 to present the achievements of the National Socialist movement since 1933 in the social and political fields. It was held in Berlin from May to August 1937 and featured 3,000 photographs, statistics, and graphics depicting economic success. In addition, it was considered to conduct a parallel campaign against Modern Art. “Art writer” Wolfgang Willrich was ordered to compile material for an exhibition with the planned title “ Gebt mir vier Jahre Zeit ” ( Give me four years ). It was made clear to Willrich that it was the Propaganda Minister’s intention that “a clear contrast be created (a black-and-white contrast, as it were) between, as he put it, ‘ the arts of yesteryear and the art of our day .'” Willrich doubted that a larger number of artworks could be obtained, since most modern artworks were still protected by sympathetic museum directors. However, in the same month, Willrich began sifting through material for the planned exhibition in Berlin. In the process, both gained access to holdings that had been taken down “for their protection” in the years since 1933 and placed in the magazines.
What was the purpose of the Entartete Kunst exhibition?
This exhibition would bring together works by Jewish artists and modernists disliked by the Nazis to encourage German hatred of these artists and styles, reaffirming Nazi cultural ideology.
What was the Nazi art exhibition?
The Nazis ran a concurrent exhibition, the Grosse deutsche Kunstausstellung (Great German art exhibition) which displayed art approved by the Nazis, though Entartete Kunst was much more popular. The exhibition closed in Munich in November 1937 and toured Germany and Austria.
What art movements were banned in the Third Reich?
Artistic movements such as Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism and Post-Impressionism were all banned, as were musical genres such as atonality, jazz and swing. All works by Jewish people were classed as Entartete and officially banned from the Third Reich. This caused confusion even within the Nazi Party because though ...
What did the Nazis believe about degeneracy?
While philosophers in nineteenth-century Germany had previously argued that art and music could have inherently ‘degenerate’ characteristics (from the German entartung, meaning degeneration), the Nazis pushed this further, interpreting ‘degeneracy’ as a racial characteristic to fit with their antisemitic ideology.
What was the Weimar style of art in the 1920s?
Weimar Germany during the 1920s had been a centre for experimental, avant-garde art, music, literature and plays. This modernism pushed the boundaries of conservative taste and did not fit with Nazi concepts of German style.
Why were racial laws imposed on music?
The racial laws were imposed strictly in music because it was so important in the Third Reich; the Nazis considered Germany to be culturally superior in all areas – but particularly so in music.
What were the two exhibitions of the 1930s?
This regulation of cultural life culminated in two exhibitions in the late 1930s: Entartete Kunst (1937) and Entartete Musik (1938). The exhibitions were intended to ridicule and make examples of those artists and musicians considered inferior according to Nazi policy, as well as the work of modernists contrary to the Nazis’ ideals ...
Overview
The Degenerate Art exhibition (German: Die Ausstellung "Entartete Kunst") was an art exhibition organized by Adolf Ziegler and the Nazi Party in Munich from 19 July to 30 November 1937. The exhibition presented 650 works of art, confiscated from German museums, and was staged in counterpoint to the concurrent Great German Art Exhibition. The day before the exhibition started,
Background
Hitler's rise to power on 30 January 1933 was quickly followed by actions intended to cleanse the culture of so-called degeneracy: book burnings were organized, artists and musicians were dismissed from teaching positions, and museum curators were replaced by Party members. In September 1933 the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Culture Chamber) was established, administered by Joseph …
Event
The exhibition was hosted in the Institute of Archaeology in the Hofgarten in Munich. The venue was chosen for its particular qualities (dark, narrow rooms). Many works were displayed without frames and partially covered by derogatory slogans. Photographs of the exhibitions had been made, as well as a catalogue, produced for the Berlin show, which accompanied the exhibition as it travelled…
Subsequent events
Another Degenerate Art Exhibition was hosted a few months later in Berlin, and later in Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Weimar, Halle, Vienna and Salzburg, to be seen by another million or so people. Many works were later sold off, although interested buyers were scarce and prices dropped drastically with the addition of such a large quantity of works to the art market: Goebbels wrote of them changing ha…
See also
• Ahnenerbe
• Art of the Third Reich
• Degenerate music
External links
• Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art), complete inventory of over 16,000 artworks confiscated by the Nazi regime from public institutions in Germany, 1937-1938, Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda. Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014.
• Explore 'Entartete Kunst': The Nazis' inventory of 'degenerate art', Victoria and Albert Museum. 2019.