#bannedbythethirdreich — Public Fediverse posts

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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