#bannedbythethirdreich — Public Fediverse posts

"Artistin," Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1910.

Kirchner (1880-1938) was a pioneering Expressionist painter and printmaker, and a founder of "Die Brücke" ("The Bridge"), an artist's group that helped usher modern art into the German culture.

He became known as a freewheeling type who had brief life drawing classes in his studio to encourage spontaneity. But in WWI he volunteered to serve in the Germany army, suffered a mental breakdown, and was discharged. Mental health issues stalked him the rest of his life.

He moved to Switzerland but was distressed about the rise of the Nazi party, and feared an invasion. He died by gunshot wound; largely believed to have been a suicide, but some have their doubts.

Sadly, over 600 of his works were destroyed by the Third Reich, which ruled his art "degenerate."

From the Brücke Museum, Berlin.

#Art #ErnstLudwigKirchner #Expressionism #WomenInArt #BannedByTheThirdReich

"Composition with Red Circle," Rudolph Bauer, 1930.

German born Bauer (1889-1953) was a pioneer of Abstract art (or "Non-Objective Art" as it was known at the time). Early in his career, he was involved in Der Strum, a Berlin-based magazine centered on modern art, and the artists' circle that surrounded it.

About the time this was painted, he met American collector Solomon Guggenheim, who was fascinated by abstract art, and sought to open a museum. Guggenheim bought a number of his works, which were exhibited in the US.

Bauer was imprisoned by the Gestapo for several months in 1938, for creating "degenerate art", but friends managed to obtain his release and he reluctantly left German for the US just as WWII began.

In the US, he was patronized by Guggenheim, although it's clear he was being exploited by Guggenheim's foundation, expected to turn over all future work to them. He simply stopped painting at that point. When the Guggenheim museum finally opened in 1959, none of Bauer's work was exhibited and he was largely forgotten until a retrospective exhibit in Germany, followed by more exhibits, and finally being featured by the Guggenheim.

From a private collection.

#Art #AbstractArt #RudolphBauer #BannedByTheThirdReich

"The White Cat," Franz Marc, 1912.

Marc (1880-1916) was one of the leading figures of German Expressionism and a founder of the art journal "The Blue Rider" which ended up giving its name to the artists who followed it.

Marc loved animals and the natural world, and often used them as symbols of dignity and peace in a turbulent world. Here, for instance, the cat is white, possible symbolizing purity, and rests cozily against a background of strong yellow and red, the turbulent world.

Marc was drafted in the German army during WWI and died at the siege of Verdun. Later, the Third Reich labeled his work "degenerate" and banned it, most of it being sold to collectors outside Germany to finance the Reich.

Like, how could this sweet painting of a sleepy cat be degenerate?

From the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale), Halle, Germany.

#Art #FranzMarc #Expressionism #BannedByTheThirdReich #Kitteh #CatsOfMastodon

"Still Life with Fish Bowl," Paula Modersohn-Becker, c. 1906.

Considered one of the most important early Expressionists, Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) is considered the first female Western artist to do nude self-portraits, and the first woman artist to have a museum dedicated solely to her works.

Brought up by a cultured family, she learned to draw early and began formal art lessons at 16, when she also set up her first studio. She moved to Paris in 1900, and there married Otto Modersohn. The marriage was turbulent, though, with her realizing that she yearned for independence. It was an intensely creative time for her, though, and she completed many works. Sadly, she died of a postpartum thrombosis in 1907, only 31.

A museum of her works opened in 1927 in Bremen but the Third Reich ruled her work "degenerate" and some works were seemingly destroyed. After WWII her daughter Mathilde started a foundation in her mother's name and a new museum established.

From the Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany,

#Art #Expressionism #PaulaModersohnBecker #WomenArtists #BannedByTheThirdReich #StillLife

"Winter Landscape in Moonlight," Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1919.

Kirchner (1880-1938) was a German Expressionist painter; in fact, one of the original Expressionists. He was one of the founders of Die Brücke ("The Bridge"), in 1905 Dresden, an artist's group that gave birth to Expressionism and remains a huge influence on modern art. (It disbanded in 1913, with the advent of WWI.)

Kirchner volunteered for service in WWI, but suffered a mental breakdown, and after some time in a sanitarium traveled to Switzerland to recover. While there, he witnessed an unusually colorful night sky that lingered in his memory, and he committed it to canvas.

It's almost a standard Alpine landscape, but the colors are vibrant and different. One might see all sorts of strange colors on a snowy day, but here Kirchner exaggerates them.

He thrived in the Alps for a while, but his work was labelled "degenerate" by the Nazis, and he worried about a Nazi invasion of Switzerland. These anxieties, and mounting health problems (he was a heavy smoker) preyed on him. He died from a gunshot wound in his Swiss home; whether it was suicide, accident, or murder is still debated.

From the Detroit Institute of Arts.

#Art #ErnstLudwigKirchner #Expressionism #Landscape #BannedByTheThirdReich

"The Riding School," Franz Marc, 1913.

Marc (1880-1916) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the leading figures of the Expressionist movement. He was a founding member of the journal, "Der Blaue Reiter" (The Blue Rider) which spawned its own artistic collective and mini-movement inside Expressionism.

He was known for his fondness for depicting animals and his use of bright color...we don't get the latter here because this is a woodcut. But instead we get bold graphic lines that depict a horse frightened by a dog, and about to throw its rider.

Marc's depiction of fear was also his way of expressing his own fears of the coming of World War I, and grimly is a reminder of his passing. He was conscripted into the German Army and died in 1916 at the siege of Verdun.

The Third Reich banned his works as "degenerate" which in his case meant they just didn't like Expressionism. Luckily, they weren't above selling his so-called "degenerate" works to raise funds, so his work survived WWII.

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

#Art #Expressionism #FranzMarc #Woodcut #Horses #BannedByTheThirdReich

"Cats, Red and White," Franz Marc, 1912.

Marc (1880-1916) was a painter and graphic artist who was a major figure in German Expressionism.

Deeply engaged with Munich's avant-garde scene, he started a journal, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) which sought to diverse artistic styles under a single, almost spiritual pursuit. His circle included Kandinsky and other major figures.

Many of his works are of animals in a natural environment, usually with bright colors, like we have here. I don't think there's ever been a cat in that particular shade, but that vibrant green background really makes it pop.

Marc was drafted into the German military during WWI, and died at the Siege of Verdun, only 36. Under the Nazi regime, his work was declared "degenerate" and officially banned; thankfully his body of work survived and is the centerpiece of many museum and gallery collections today, and fetching high prices at auction.

From a private collection.

#Art #Expressionism #FranzMarc #BannedByTheThirdReich

"Woman with Orange," Käthe Kollwitz, 1901.

Prussian-born Kollwitz (1867-1945) was a painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work often brutally depicted the effects of poverty and war on the working classes.

Although regarded as a Realist in her time, today she's classified as an Expressionist. A committed pacifist, her works protesting war and depicting various social problems brought her fame but also problems. She lost a son in WWI and works between the wars were full of antiwar sentiment and depictions of sorrow and grief.

During WWII, when she lived in Germany, the Gestapo threatened to send her to a concentration camp, but her international fame made the idea undesirable for the Nazis. By this time she was also a committed Communist. Her Berlin home was bombed, resulting in the loss of many prints and documents, and she passed away mere weeks before the end of the war.

Here's a distracted-looking woman with an orange...perhaps her entire food for the day? An unsettling look at poverty, definitely.

From the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

#Art #Expressionism #KatheKollwtiz #WomenArtists #WomenInArt #BannedByTheThirdReich

"Self Portrait with Champagne Glass," Max Beckmann, 1919.

Beckmann (1884-1950) was a German artist, printmaker, sculptor, and writer, commonly associated with the Expressionist style although he mostly identified with the New Objectivity movement, related to Expressionism but rejecting its introverted emotionalism. He was a big success in Weimar Germany, but his work was judged "degenerate" by the Nazis and it was removed from museums. He fled to Amsterdam, and then to the US upon receiving a professorship at Washington University in St. Louis.

Well-read in psychology and philosophy, his art often showed a quest for the Self, so he did a lot of self-portraits. While on the surface this shows him as an elegant dandy, in a reflection of Dutch Golden Age painters showing jolly drinkers, here he shows himself looking unhealthy, with a skull-like face and strange pallor, and his body almost twisted and distorted. The cartoonish laughing man in the background is almost sinister and disturbing. It's a strange view, perhaps showing a sense of the decadence of the Weimar republic and perhaps a sense of the growing fascist presence.

From the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.

#Art #MaxBeckmann #Expressionism #NewObjectivity #BannedByTheThirdReich #PortraitMonday

"Tyrol," Franz Marc, 1914.

Marc (1880-1916) was a German Expressionist painter. Although a prominent figure in German Expressionism, his career was tragically short.

He was a founder of The Blue Rider, an arts journal that became the voice of a circle of artists of the time, including Kandinsky. The were Blue Rider exhibitions, where he showed his work and collected good reviews. However, at the outbreak of WWI, he was drafted by the German army and died during the Battle of Verdun.

The Third Reich declared his art "degenerate" and had it pulled from museums and sold to raise money. At least one painting was looted from the home of a Jewish man who was sent to the camps; it was restored to his family only a few years ago. Now Marc's work gets record prices at auctions.

From the Piankothek der Moderne, Munich. (I'm not focusing on that museum solely this week, I swear! I've chosen these randomly but they're all from the same museum...)

#Art #FranzMarc #Expressionism #DegenerateArt #LootedByTheThirdReich #BannedByTheThirdReich

"Samson and Delilah," Max Liebermann, 1902.

Liebermann (1847-1935) was a brilliant artist at a horrible time. He was a leading proponent of German Impressionism, was a leader of the Berlin Secession, an influential avant-garde art movement, but late in life, at the height of his artistic power, his work was dropped by major galleries because he was Jewish, and later all work by Jewish artists was banned.

He died of natural causes, but his paintings, as well as his personal collection, were looted by the Nazis. Liebermann's heirs are still struggling to reclaim his property.

This version of the story is interesting; Liebermann presents it as a modern battle of the sexes, without reference to any sort of Biblical setting.

From the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.

#Art #GermanArt #JewishArtists #BannedByTheThirdReich #LootedByTheThirdReich #MaxLiebermann

"Nude Girl Lying on a Sofa," Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1909.

Kirchner (1888-1938) was an influential German Expressionist, the founder of a group called Die Brücke (The Bridge) that sought to move past formal, academic art and experiment with new forms. He volunteered for service in WWI but suffered a mental breakdown and was released. He later relocated to Switzerland, but as the Nazis came to power and declared his work "degenerate," and he feared a Nazi invasion of Switzerland, he took his own life.

There's a sense of mischief in this woodcut; the girl is guarding her nether parts and giving us only a peep of her breasts, and the smile is naughty. She seems happy it's Friday!

A lot of Kirchner's work was destroyed by the Third Reich, so let's be grateful this has survived.

From the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

#Art #Expressionism #DegenerateArt #BannedByTheThirdReich #Woodcut #ErnstLudwigKirchner

"Female Nude with Green Shawl," lithograph by Käthe Kollwitz, 1903.

I've featured Kollwitz (1867-1945) before, but her technique and vision always earns a revisit. A German painter and lithographer, she was a respected artist, but also a staunch anti-Nazi and pacifist who was reluctantly staying in Germany for fear of reprisals against her family. She couldn't exhibit, but she continued to create, although some works were destroyed when her home was bombed. She passed away 15 days before the war ended.

Many of her works explore the horrors and effects of war (she lost a son in WWI), but here we have a simple exercise in depicting the human body and creating a work of beauty. Possibly a nod to Ingres, who was famous for his fascination with the female back, she has a nude featured from behind in a rather classical setting. However, unlike Ingres, she's pretty realistic in her depiction (Ingres tended to add vertebrae) and the woman in this lithograph seems gloriously human.

From the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

#Art #WomenArtists #WomenInArt #KatheKollwitz #BannedByTheThirdReich #Expressionism