Left and Right: Politics and Images of Motherhood in Weimar Germany
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2017 Left and Right: Politics and Images of Motherhood in Weimar Germany Michelle L. Vangen The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1858 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] LEFT AND RIGHT: POLITICS AND IMAGES OF MOTHERHOOD IN WEIMAR GERMANY by MICHELLE VANGEN A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2017 © 2017 MICHELLE VANGEN All rights reserved ii Left and Right: Politics and Images of Motherhood in Weimar Germany by Michelle Vangen This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Art History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Rose-Carol Washton Long Chair of Examining Committee Date Rachel Kousser Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Rosemarie Haag Bletter John Maciuika Diane Radycki THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract LEFT AND RIGHT: POLITICS AND IMAGES OF MOTHERHOOD IN WEIMAR GERMANY by MICHELLE VANGEN Advisor: Professor Rose-Carol Washton Long Art historians and cultural critics have long debated the aesthetic and political implications of the stylistic shift in Germany from pre-war experimentations with abstraction and expressive distortion to more clear-cut figuration in their paintings during the years following World War I. They have questioned whether this shift represents a regressive return to tradition or a new artistic direction and if it should be associated with a reactionary or progressive political stance. This dissertation broadens our understanding of German interwar realism, commonly referred to as Neue Sachlichkeit, by examining representations of mothers, a popular theme in the realist painting of the Weimar period (1919-1933). Through a series of case studies I explore how artists, as well as art critics and collectors, working from a range of political positions, used the image of the mother, employing various strategies of realism, to engage with the social and political conflicts of the tumultuous Weimar years. Focusing first on leftist figures I examine how socially-engaged artists, including Käthe Kollwitz and Rudolf Schlichter, produced simplistically realistic images of proletarian mothers as propaganda for the German Communist Party’s campaign to legalize abortion. I then study the veristic realism of representations of working-class mothers by Otto Dix, one of the most (in)famous painters of the Weimar period, in an attempt to resolve the controversy about whether his minute attention to detail and exaggerated color typical of the German Old Masters relates to a need to expose the social evils of the Weimar years. The next chapter focuses on Georg iv Schrimpf’s maternal images and how his employment of an idealizing and classicizing naturalism grounded in the Italianate pastoral tradition gives form to his utopian, anarcho- socialist beliefs. In the final chapter I consider how members of the Weimar art world affiliated with the political right also championed artistic realism by examining the posthumous reception of Paula-Modersohn Becker. As I discuss, numerous right-wing art historians, critics and collectors appropriated her motherhood works to support various nationalist and conservative agendas. By demonstrating the political and stylistic complexity of German interwar painting, my dissertation challenges previous attempts to interpret Neue Sachlichkeit simplistically as either right/reactionary or left/liberal while also opening up new understandings of some of the movement’s most important members. v Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of numerous institutions and individuals. First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to my exceptional advisor Professor Rose-Carol Washton Long for her years of guidance, support and encouragement. I wish to thank Professor Diane Radycki of Moravian College as well for fostering my interest in Paula Modersohn-Becker and providing me with the opportunity to present my research in her panel on the artist at the 2009 College Art Association Conference. A revised version of my conference paper was published in the Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Woman’s Art Journal.1 I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members Professor Rosemarie Haag Bletter and Professor John Maciuika. My research was greatly facilitated by several grants and fellowships. The Zantop Travel Award from the Coalition of Women in German, the Walter Read Hovey Memorial Fund Fellowship from the Pittsburgh Foundation and a research grant from the Graduate Center’s Doctoral Student Research Program all enabled me to conduct primary research in Germany. I thank these organizations for their support. I also deeply appreciate the many institutions and professionals who aided my research abroad. In Bremen, Dr. Frank Laukötter, Director of the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, placed his extensive collection of books on Modersohn- Becker at my disposal. Uwe Bölts and Christel Rademacker from the Archiv Böttcherstrasse provided invaluable assistance with my research on Ludwig Roselius. Moreover, their kindness and generosity helped me to feel at home both in the archive as well as in Bremen in general. In Berlin, Prof. Dr. Monika Flacke, Collections Manager at the Deutsches Historisches Museum, 1 Michelle Vangen, “Left and Right: Politics and Images of Motherhood in Weimar Germany,” Woman’s Art Journal 30 (Fall/Winter, 2009): 25-30. vi alerted me to the recently completed Great German Art Exhibition Research Platform. I thank you all. I would also like to thank the following libraries and archives: the Archiv der Universität der Künste, Berlin; the Hochschule der Künste Archiv, Berlin; the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Archiv für Bildende Kunst, Otto Dix Nachlass, Nuremberg; and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin—Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Additionally, I am grateful to my friends Kasia Masztalska, Karolina Pokorska and Sascha Steindor for encouraging me to enjoy my time in Germany outside of the libraries, archives and museums! Heartfelt thanks are due as well to my fellow doctoral candidates Emily Ackerman and Karen Barber. Our "dissertation support group" inserted some much needed humor into this challenging process! To my best friend and amazing artist Mary (Richards) Ayling—you’ve been my most enthusiastic cheerleader. To my loving parents—I am deeply grateful for your constant support and unwavering belief in my ability to succeed. And most of all to my fiancé Matt. You stood by me through all of the ups, downs and unexpected turns of my PhD journey. I couldn't have done this without you. vii Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgments vi List of Illustrations ix Abbreviations Used in Main Text xiv Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Image of the Mother as Ideological Weapon: Artists and the Communist 26 Campaign to Legalize Abortion Chapter Two: The Image of the Mother as Tool of Social Critique: Otto Dix and the Verist 78 Attack on Weimar Society Chapter Three: The Image of the Mother as Utopian Symbol: Anarchism and the Ideal in 131 Georg Schrimpf’s Maternal Images Chapter Four: The Image of the Mother as Conservative Icon: The Weimar Reception of 178 Paula Modersohn-Becker’s Motherhood Works Conclusion 228 Illustrations 233 Bibliography 280 viii List of Illustrations Chapter One Figure 1-1 Käthe Kollwitz, Down with the Abortion Paragraphs, 1923, lithograph. Figure 1-2 Alice Lex-Nerlinger, Paragraph 218, 1931, spray paint on canvas. Figure 1-3 Rudolf Schlichter, Women’s Rights in Bourgeois Democracy, 1922, lithograph. Figure 1-4 Heinrich Zille, Into the Water, 1904, pen and colored chalk on paper. Figure 1-5 Heinrich Zille, Into the Water, 1919, lithograph. Figure 1-6 Käthe Kollwitz, Pub (Portraits of Misery series #2), 1909, lithograph. Figure 1-7 Käthe Kollwitz, At the Doctor (Portraits of Misery series #3), 1909, lithograph. Figure 1-8 Käthe Kollwitz, Christmas (Portraits of Misery series #6), 1909, lithograph. Figure 1-9 Program for Paragraph 218: Tortured People, 1929. Figure 1-10 A. Paul Weber, Title Page for Mord an der Zukunft, 1929. Figure 1-11 A. Paul Weber, Illustration for Mord an der Zukunft, 1929. Figure 1-12 George Grosz, Toads of Property, 1920, pen and ink on paper. Figure 1-13 John Heartfield, Forced to Deliver Human Material, 1930, photomontage. Figure 1-14 Eva Schulze-Knabe, Paragraph 218, 1931, linocut. Figure 1-15 Alice Lex-Nerlinger, Paragraph 218 1931, photomontage. Chapter Two Figure 2-1 Otto Dix, Working-Class Boy, 1920, oil on canvas. Figure 2-2 Otto Dix, The Salon I, 1921, oil on canvas. Figure 2-3 Otto Dix, Pregnant Woman, 1919, oil on canvas. Figure 2-4 Otto Dix, Woman and Child, 1921, oil on canvas. ix Figure 2-5 Otto Dix, Awakening, 1918, gouache on paper. Figure 2-6 Otto Dix, Lover’s Grave, 1917, charcoal on paper. Figure 2-7 Woman of Willendorf, c. 24,000 BCE, limestone. Figure 2-8 Raphael, Sistine Madonna, 1512, oil on canvas. Figure 2-9 Conrad Felixmüller, Birth, 1917, woodcut. Figure 2-10 Otto Dix, Birth, 1919, woodcut. Figure 2-11 Conrad Felixmüller, Pregnant Woman in the Autumn Forest, 1917, woodcut. Figure 2-12 Otto Dix, Moon Woman, 1919, oil on canvas. Figure 2-13 Otto Dix, War Cripples (45% Fit for Service), 1920, oil on canvas. Figure 2-14 2-14 Otto Dix, Pregnancy (Death and Resurrection series #4), 1922, etching. Figure 2-15 Otto Dix, Pregnant Woman, 1920, pencil on paper. Figure 2-16 Matthias Grünewald, Crucifixion from the Isenheim Altarpiece, 1515, oil on wood. Figure 2-17 Otto Dix, Mother and Child, 1923, oil on wood.