List of Works: Histories of a Collection. 1933–1945

Karl Hofer (1878–1955), The Black Rooms (Version II), 1943

The backdrop is reminiscent of the musical interlude that bridges two acts of a play while the set is being changed. There is nothing casual about the atmosphere of the scene, however. On the contrary: the drumming conveys a high degree of tension. The first version of the picture was painted in 1928 and bore the title “The Drummer”. This could be a reference to , who had been casting himself as drumming up support for the national cause since 1919. When the first version was destroyed in the artist’s studio during an air raid in 1943, Hofer immediately set about painting a second version. The replacement became a metaphor for the “black years” of National Socialism. In 1943 the dark vision of the picture became a reality. More than ever the colour black symbolises mourning and obliteration.

Acquired in 1953 from the artist by the State of

PROLOGUE: AN EXCHANGE OF PICTURES WITH ITALY

Carlo Carrà (1881–1966), Houses Beneath Hills, 1924 Acquired 1932

Felice Casorati (1883–1963), The Mother, 1923/24 Acquired 1932

Giovanni Colacicchi (1900–1992), Sunny Street, 1931 Acquired 1932

Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1979), Serenade, 1909 Acquired 1932

Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1979), Portrait of Brother Andrea, 1909/10 Acquired 1932

Achille Funi (1890–1972), Saint Sebastian, 1925 Acquired 1932

Achille Funi (1890–1972), Publius Horatius Murders His Sister, 1932 Acquired 1932

Giuseppe Montanari (1889–1976), The Death of Christ, 1932 Acquired 1932

Alberto Salietti (1892–1961), Woman with Headscarf, 1927 Acquired 1932

Gino Severini (1883–1966), Composition: The Dove, c. 1930 Acquired 1932

Mario Sironi (1885–1961), Industrial Outskirts, 1922/1927 Acquired 1932

Mario Sironi (1885–1961), Composition: Girl, seated, c. 1927/28 Acquired 1932

Mario Tozzi (1895–1979), The Closed Door, c. 1932

Acquired 1932

Gigiotti Zanini (1893–1962), Still Life with Violin, 1932 Acquired 1932

THE DISPUTE OVER MODERN ART

Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Melancholy, 1906/ 07

In December 1933 articles appeared in German newspapers celebrating the 70-year-old as a “Nordic-Germanic” artist. was among the personalities lauding Munch, who was on display permanently at the depicting him as “the Nordic father of ”. He was to be shown in juxtaposition to the French Impressionists and assist in the legitimisation of German Expressionist artists. Yet the Norwegian was another casualty of the confiscations in 1937. Hermann Göring had his “Melancholy” sold in Oslo for foreign currency.

Acquired in 1930 from the Curt Glaser Collection; displayed at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1936; confiscated as “degenerate” in 1937; confiscated by Hermann Göring in 1938 and sold in Oslo in 1939, afterwards in private ownership in Oslo; acquired in 1997 with assistance from the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung and the Kulturstiftung der Länder.

Emil Nolde (1867–1956), The Sinner (Jesus Christ and the Sinner), 1926

Emil Nolde, whose Expressionist pictures were classified as “Nordic-Germanic”, hoped the 1933 Nazi takeover would lead to official acknowledgement of his work. He himself had watched with some satisfaction as Hitler rose to power, but his approval ended when his work was targeted by Nazi cultural policymakers. “The Sinner” was featured in the 1937 “” exhibition in and other cities. A photo from the Berlin station of the tour shows Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, beside “The Sinner”.

Acquired in 1929 from the artist; exhibited at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1933; confiscated in 1937 and shown as part of the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich and other cities until 1938 in ; auctioned by Galerie Fischer, Lucerne; private ownership; acquired in 1999 by Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, with assistance from Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie and the State of Berlin.

Werner Scholz (1898–1982), Two People, 1935

In the summer of 1935 the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie made its final purchase of the Nazi period – “Two People” by Werner Scholz. Eberhard Hanfstaengl, director of the Nationalgalerie, displayed the expressive, realistic painting, with its references to street prostitution, right up until the closure of the Kronprinzenpalais. In the case of and the Expressionists he had had their paintings depicting human figures taken down, leaving only their landscapes and still lifes on display.

Acquired in 1935 by Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie

Rudolf Schlichter (1890–1955), Portrait of Ernst Jünger, c. 1929/1930

In April 1933 Rudolf Schlichter’s portrait of Ernst Jünger arrived at the Nationalgalerie as part of an exchange of pictures. Jünger was known among the military and nationalists for his war diaries. The Nationalgalerie returned Schlichter’s portrait of Henri Guilbeaux, acquired in 1930. Guilbeaux having worked as a Berlin correspondent of the Communist daily “L’Humanité”, was not opportune anymore. In a letter to the artist on 5th April 1933 Ludwig Justi, director of the Nationalgalerie wrote: “Today we have to consider the political aspect of a work, not just its artistic value: […] Naturally it went against my grain to honour a French writer. I would have preferred to swap the picture for another of yours.”

Acquired from the artist in 1933 in return for another of his pictures

Ernst Barlach (1870–1938), Reading Monks III, 1932

In the 1920s Ernst Berlach was considered a typically “German” or “Nordic” artist, yet in 1932 the NSDAP party newspaper “Völkischer Beobachter” was already rejecting the “eastern […] type in all of Barlach’s creations”. National Socialist racial ideology was projected onto the physiognomy of his human figures. In 1934 the Nationalgalerie bought, direct from the artist, his depicting silent and withdrawn “Reading Monks”, handing over a strikingly expressive 1925 relief in exchange.

Acquired from the artist in 1934 in return for another of his pictures; displayed at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1936; confiscated in 1937 and shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich; sold in 1939 at an auction in Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, to Curt Valentin, Buchholz Gallery, New York; Albert Rothbart, Ridgefield, Connecticut/USA; bought back in 1962 via Galerie Beyeler, Basel, with funding from the Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin

EMIGRATION

Paul Klee (1879–1940), Time, 1933

1933 marked the end of ’s art career in . His decade teaching at the School had brought him a reputation as one of the best-known exponent of modern art in the . Following his dismissal as professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art and the inclusion of his works in the first defamatory exhibitions, Klee left Germany forever on 24 th December 1933, emigrating to . His collage “Times”, produced in the same year, gives the impression of a piece of fabric that has been provisionally patched together. Two black lines in the centre represent the hands of a clock without numbers and point laconically to an uncertain future.

Lily and Felix Klee, Bern; 1996 Heinz Berggruen, ; 1996-2000 on permanent loan in the Collection Berggruen; acquired in 2000 with assistance from the Federal Government and the State of Berlin

Ernesto de Fiori (1884–1945), The Fugitive (The Desperate Man), 1934

The bronze “The Fugitive”, also known as “The Desperate Man”, was produced in 1934, the year the sculptor Ernesto de Fiori first considered leaving Germany. In the spring of 1933 de Fiori was still aligning himself with National Socialist Germany, posing the question in a newspaper article: “How can we artists be of help to the government?” However, he was against artists adjusting their style to fit the political climate. The gallery owner representing all of de Fiori’s work was Alfred Flechtheim, a Jew who was forced by circumstances to leave Germany in May 1933. In 1936 de Fiori, too, left for Brazil, where he remained until his death in 1945.

Discovered in 1948 in the scrap yard of the Czechoslovakian Military Mission in Berlin’s Osthafen wharf district; transferred in 1949 from the Magistrat of Greater Berlin to the Nationalgalerie (Ost/ East) and formally donated in 1951

Ernesto de Fiori (1884–1945), Marlene Dietrich, 1931

Marlene Dietrich achieved stardom with the film “The Blue Angel” (1930). Sculptor Ernesto de Fiori produced the bust of Dietrich, a native of Berlin-Schöneberg, during her stay in the capital in the winter of 1930/31, prior to her definitive move to the US. Attempts by the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to lure the actress back to Germany failed. Instead Marlene Dietrich helped Jews to emigrate to the States and in 1943/44 visited American troops in the field, giving around 500 performances and exposing herself to danger in the process.

From 1935 onwards on loan from the former Gesellschaft der Kunstfreunde Berlin; confiscated in 1937 as “degenerate art” but returned to the Nationalgalerie in 1939 with the proviso that the bust not be exhibited; added to the inventory in 1968

Max Beckmann (1884–1950), Self-Portrait, 1936

The works of Max Beckmann do not include many . Despite the menacing conditions in which he was living and working at the time, Beckmann’s self-portrait from 1936 presents the artist facing forward with a self-assured expression on his face. He had already been dismissed from his teaching post at the Städelschule in in 1933 and exhibitions featuring his works were cancelled. The day after the opening of the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich in July 1937 Beckmann left Germany for good. His self-portrait was one of the few pieces that the artist took with him into exile in Holland and in 1947 when he resettled in the US.

Acquired in 1993 from Galerie Pels-Leusden, Berlin, as part of the estate of the artist’s widow, Mathilde Beckmann, by Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie

Theo Balden (1904–1995), Head with Nail, 1939

Theo Balden’s life path was etched into his very name: Born in 1904 as Otto Koehler, in 1935 the artist fled to Prague and then England under the false name of Theo Balden, retaining the pseudonym until his death. He had joined the German Communist Party in 1928 and been active in the anti-fascist resistance. After a 10-month spell in detention in 1934 his only option was to emigrate. Balden produced his small sculpture “Head with Nail” during his first year in London. The piece’s reductive style and pointed symbolism reflects more than just Balden’s own biography in condensed form; a head marked by adversity and suffering, with a bent, rusty nail rammed into the back of the neck, is a metaphor for persecution.

Acquired in 1975 from the artist

THE “DEGENERATE ART” ACTION

Lyonel Feininger (1871–1956), Teltow II, 1918

This work depicts houses and the Gothic church of St Andrew in the farming town of Teltow on the southern border of Berlin. On 7 th July 1937 the painting was chosen by a commission of Nazi art functionaries charged with the selection of pictures for the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich. Following the opening run in Munich, the painting accompanied the travelling exhibition to Berlin, Leipzig, Düsseldorf and Salzburg.

Acquired in 1921 from the artist; displayed at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1933; confiscated in 1937 and shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich and subsequent venues until 1938; entrusted in 1940 by the Ministry of Propaganda to Bernhard A. Böhmer, Güstrow; passed as part of his estate to Wilma Zelk, subsequently to Rostock Museum; returned in 1949 to the Nationalgalerie Berlin (Ost/ East), formally donated by the Magistrat of Greater Berlin in 1951

Rudolf Belling (1886–1972), Triad, 1919/24

The “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich included two works by Rudolf Belling from the Nationalgalerie collection – the wooden sculpture “Triad” and the bronze “Head in Brass”. At the same time, the artist had a portrait of the boxer Max Schmeling on display in the “Great Exhibition”, whose exhibits were championed by the National Socialists as exemplary works of art. When the inherent contradiction was realised, both of Belling’s pieces were removed from the “Degenerate Art” exhibition.

Acquired in 1924 from the artist; on display at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1933; confiscated in 1937 and shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich; removed shortly afterwards; entrusted to Bernhard A. Böhmer, Güstrow in commission, seized there in 1947 and returned in 1949 to the Nationalgalerie Berlin (Ost/ East)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), Studio Corner, 1919/20

“Studio Corner” was confiscated twice, first by the National Socialists, who confiscated the picture from the Nationalgalerie in 1937, labelling it as “degenerate” but with high monetary value on the international market. Gallery owner Ferdinand Möller bought the work in 1940 for its appraised value of 80 dollars. After the Second World War, the painting was then reappropriated following a decree issued by the Soviet Military Administration. Not until , the painting was restored to Möller’s heirs, allowing it to be purchased again for the Nationalgalerie in 1997 .

Acquired in 1923, on display at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1933; confiscated as “degenerate” in 1937; ownership passed to Ferdinand Möller in 1940; 1948 on loan by Möller to Städtisches Museum in der Moritzburg, Halle (Saale), retained by the Museum following a decree by the Soviet Military Administration, returned in 1953 to the Nationalgalerie Berlin (Ost/East); returned in 1995 to Ferdinand Möller’s heirs; 1995-1997 on loan from the Ferdinand-Möller-Stiftung to the Nationalgalerie; reacquired by the Nationalgalerie in 1997

Karl Hofer (1878–1955), Self-Portrait, 1935

Karl Hofer’s self-portrait from 1935 was labelled “degenerate” and confiscated from the Kronprinzenpalais in 1937. It was auctioned at the Galerie Fischer in Lucerne on the orders of the National Socialists, not returning to the Nationalgalerie until 2014, when it was donated to the museum. Immediately after the confiscation of the work Hofer had painted another version of the picture, which was acquired by the Nationalgalerie in 1974. “The Black Years” is the first exhibition showing the two works side by side.

Acquired from the artist in 1935 in an exchange of pictures; on display at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1936; confiscated as “degenerate” in 1937; auctioned in 1939 at the Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, in private ownership, Cincinnati (USA); bequeathed in 2014 in memory of Paul E. Geier and Gabriele B. Geier

Karl Hofer (1878–1955), Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1937

Hans Dittmayer, ; 1962 collection of Karl Ströher, Darmstadt; 1967 Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Lugano; acquired in 1974 by the State of Berlin

Franz Marc (1880–1916), The Tower of Blue Horses, 1913 (reproduction)

Franz Marc’s best-known painting “The Tower of Blue Horses” had been the showpiece of the Neue Galerie of the Nationalgalerie since its opening in 1919 and was on display until the closure in 1936. Despite being confiscated as “degenerate” in 1937 it was removed from the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich following a protest by the German Officers’ League, Marc having been awarded the Iron Cross (1 st Class) in the First World War and died as an officer at the battle of Verdun. From 1938 onwards the painting fell under the disposition of Hermann Göring. At the end of the war the work was seen briefly in Berlin but has been missing ever since .

Acquired in 1919 from the artist’s widow; on display at the Kronprinzenpalais until 1936; confiscated in 1937 and shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in Munich; removed from display shortly afterwards; confiscated by Hermann Göring in 1938; missing since 1945

Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881–1919), Kneeling Woman (fragment), 1911

The “Degenerate Art” exhibition included a cast of ’s important work entitled “Kneeling Woman”, which had been confiscated from the City of Munich. Nonetheless, the commission responsible for assembling the exhibits for “Degenerate Art” chose to leave the cast of the Nationalgalerie Berlin at the Kronprinzenpalais. This may have been partly for conservational reasons; museum curator Paul Ortwin Rave wrote: “The work is likely to break into many pieces if it is transported”. In the end “Kneeling Woman” was

broken to many pieces during an air raid in the final year of the war. Today four fragments of the stone cast serve as a reminder of the destruction of artworks in times of war and dictatorship.

Acquired in 1919/20 from the artist’s widow; destroyed in 1945

Erich Heckel (1883–1970), Spring, 1918

Erich Heckel painted his “Spring” landscape in the final year of the First World War while serving as an orderly in occupied . The work was one of the first to be acquired by Ludwig Justi in 1919 for the Neue Galerie of the Nationalgalerie at the Kronprinzenpalais. All of Heckel’s works were removed from display in 1933 except for “Spring”, which remained on show until the museum was closed. In the summer of 1937 the painting escaped confiscation of “degenerate” art. It is assumed that Wolfgang Schöne, a Nationalgalerie trainee, hid the picture from the commission since colleagues of Schöne testified that he was responsible for at least one other rescue, that of ’s “Bridge over the Rhine in Cologne” (1914).

Acquired in 1919 from the artist

ART IN THE SERVICE OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM

Karl Leipold (1864–1943), Old Town (Harburg near Nördlingen), before 1922

In December 1933 the painter Karl Leipold was honoured with the last solo exhibition that was shown at the Kronprinzenpalais. On the express order of Rudolf Heß the exhibition run was extended several times until Adolf Hitler turned up for a viewing on 26 th March 1934 in the company of Hermann Göring and . This was Hitler’s first and last official visit to the Kronprinzenpalais. Leipold, who had specialised in seascapes, northern German themes and travel scenes, was hyped in the press as “a beacon for other artists”. “Old Town” was purchased by the state at the end of the show.

Acquired in 1934 by the Prussian Art Department, Ministry of Science, Art and Culture

Alexander Kanoldt (1881–1939), Portrait of Daughter Angelina, 1935

The painter joined the Acquisitions Commission of the Nationalgalerie in 1934. He had become a member of the NSDAP in May 1932, declaring in a letter that he was “a fanatical National Socialist”. Artistically he was part of the movement, although he did not address the themes favoured by his sub-genre colleagues: instead of exploring social and sociocritical issues, he focused on apolitical landscapes, portraits and still lifes. Soon, however, Hitler was damning not only the Expressionists, Futurists and Cubists but also what he called the “Objectivity windbags”. So it was that a number of Kanoldt’s works was confiscated as part of the “Degenerate Art” action, although they were not included in the Munich exhibition.

Donated in 1960 by the artist’s sister-in-law

Georg Schrimpf (1889–1938), The Fichtel Mountains, 1937

In 1937 the painter was dismissed from his professorship at the State College of Art in Berlin because of his earlier memberships to the Social Democratic and Communist Party, even though he had declared sympathy for National Socialism. Despite his dismissal he received official recognition when “The Fichtel Mountains” was purchased by the Nazi Minister of Food and Agriculture, Walther Darré. Darré saw agriculture as the foundation of Nazi society and may have interpreted Schrimpf’s landscape in line with his own blood-and-soil ideology.

Acquired before 1940 by the Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture, Walther Darré; confiscated in

1945 by Soviet occupiers and declared as national property, in 1990 ownership of the Federal Republic of Germany; since 2012 on permanent loan from the Federal Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues

Arno Breker (1900–1991), Reclining Woman, 1927

The sculptor Arno Breker was the most prominent artist to put his skills in the service of the National Socialist regime. In the summer of 1936, Hitler is said to have told Breker: “As of today, young man, you’ll work exclusively for me”, after the artist had taken second prize in the International Olympic Art Competition in Berlin with his larger-than-life sculptures “Victress” and “Decathlete”. In 1937 the Nationalgalerie bought “Reclining Woman”, which Breker had created a decade previously in Paris and which was of a quite different stamp. In acquiring the little bronze statue director Eberhard Hanfstaengl was making a conscious decision against the purchase of those monumental statues that, by fusing the model forms of antiquity with those of contemporary athletes, were a visible and tangible reflection of the National Socialists’ ideal physique.

Acquired in 1937 from the artist

Rudolf Belling (1886–1972), Max Schmeling, 1929

The contradictions of the National Socialist policy on art are no better revealed than in the regime’s approach to the work of Rudolf Belling. On the one hand, two of his pieces, including the expressively abstract “Triad”, were included in the defamatory “Degenerate Art” exhibition. On the other hand, the “Great German Art Exhibition” running at the same time in Munich was showing Belling’s naturalistic three-quarter profile of the boxer Max Schmeling. In order to dissolve this contradiction Belling’s two “degenerate” works were removed from the exhibition. When the internationally celebrated “German Killer” Schmeling beat the black American Joe Louis in 1936, Schmeling was granted an audience with Adolf Hitler, who held up the victory as a confirmation of his racial ideology.

Acquired in 1936 from the artist; shown in 1937 at the Great German Art Exhibition in Munich

Josef Müllner (1879–1968), Rider, 1936

The summer of 1936 found Berlin hosting the Olympic Games. The National Socialists had grasped the propaganda potential of this grandiose event. Parallel to the Games, an art competition was organised by the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Approx. 900 works from 23 nations were exhibited, with Joseph Müllner of submitting his lead sculpture of horse and rider. Despite the less-than-life-sized dimensions, the work is in no way less monumental in terms of physical presence. With his sleek and filigree work on the muscles of rider and steed, Müllner’s figure was not unlike the mounted-horseman statues of Antiquity.

Transferred in 1936 to the Nationalgalerie by the Reich and Prussian Minister for Science, Education and Culture

Georg Kolbe (1877–1947), Descending Man, 1940

Works by the sculptor Georg Kolbe were shown continuously in the “Great German Art Exhibition” between 1937 and 1943. In 1941 the Reich Minister for Economic Affairs Walther Funk purchased “Descending Man”, a larger-than-life-sized nude statue. Kolbe had worked on the motif of the “Descending” as well as “Ascending Man” since 1927. He was inspired by his reading of ’s novel “Zarathustra”, where it says in the preface “Zarathustra descended alone from the mountain”.

Acquired in 1941 from the Great German Art Exhibition by the Minister for Economic Affairs, Walther Funk; after 1945 transferred by the Berlin Senate, Fine Arts department, to the Nationalgalerie Berlin (West)

Fritz Klimsch (1870–1960), , 1937

Wilhelm Frick, depicted here in bust form, was the first NSDAP minister at state level. As minister he initiated a “purge” of the Weimar Schlossmuseum in 1930. From 1933 onwards Frick, in his capacity as Reich Minister of the Interior, was instrumental in drawing up the legislation enshrining National Socialist racial ideology. He was involved in drafting of “Nuremberg Laws” in 1935, and already in 1934 he created the legal basis for extermination campaign as part of the “euthanasia” programme. After the war he was indicted as one of the principal war criminals, convicted and executed in 1946. The plaster cast of the bust remained in the studio of its creator, Fritz Klimsch, in Berlin-Charlottenburg, from where it was later taken by the municipal authorities and deposited with the Nationalgalerie.

Transferred in 1952/53 by the Magistrat of Greater Berlin to the Nationalgalerie (Ost/ East) as a deposit

Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901), Isle of the Dead, 1883

Especially the German landscape painters of the 19th century were co-opted by Nazi ideologues. The Nationalgalerie, too, favoured acquisitions from the previous century, precisely due to the defaming of modern art. Adolf Hitler himself loved Arnold Böcklin’s work. His “Isle of the Dead” was bought by the Reich Chancellery in 1936 and hung in the grand music salon of the Reichskanzlerpalais. A press photo shows Hitler standing in front of Böcklin’s painting. On the left is the Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, who visited Berlin in 1940. Seven months after the photo was taken the German army invaded the Soviet Union.

Acquired in 1936 by the Reich Chancellery from Eduard Sturzenegger, St. Gallen; taken to the Soviet Union after 1945; acquired in 1980 for the Nationalgalerie Berlin (West)

Erwin Hahs (1887–1970), Great Requiem, 1944/45

Despite suffering persecution under the National Socialists, the painter Erwin Hahs was still compelled to serve the regime through his art. He was commissioned to produce a portrait of Hitler for the auditorium of Winckelmann Grammar School in Stendal. No sooner had Hahs hung the picture, showing Hitler infront a background of burning ruins, than it was taken down and returned to him. Since canvas had become expensive during the war, Hahs painted over the portrait, replacing it with a depiction of a naked man extinguishing his torch on an altar stone – a reference to death. In preparation for the “The Black Years” exhibition the painting was x-rayed for the first time, corroborating the existence of a picture beneath the upper oil layer. So it is that the collection of the Nationalgalerie includes a picture of the Nazi dictator – concealed from view.

Acquired in 1977 from the artist’s widow

Franz Radziwill (1895–1983), Flanders (Where To In This World?), 1940/1950

Franz Radziwill began to work on the painting “Flanders” in 1940 after taking part as a soldier in the ’s invasion of Belgium. The first version was a realistic depiction of war in an idyllic-looking lowland region. Until 1950, the artist reworked his painting, moving from a realist style to a surreal symbolism tinged with the apocalyptic. Earth and sky are now gashed open and a pale sun and floral ornament hover over the scene.

From 1968 to 2012 on permanent loan from the artist, later from the Franz Radziwill Gesellschaft e. V., Varel-Dangast; acquired in 2012 with assistance from the Verein der Freunde der Nationalgalerie, the Kulturstiftung der Länder and the Secretary of State for Culture and Media

ART IN RESISTANCE TO NATIONAL SOCIALISM

Otto Dix (1891–1969), Flanders, 1934–1936

Dix’ “Flanders” presents the quiet side of war. Neither hostilities nor adversaries are seen; silence and exhaustion dominate the painting. Yet the fiery horizon is a harbinger of the impending apocalypse of the Second World War. Dix spent the years between 1933 and 1945 painting in rural seclusion, often referred to as “inner emigration”. was critical of war after fighting in World War One. As a consequence, he lost his professorship at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in April 1933. The argument was presented that his art would offend moral sensibilities and contributes to “an undermining of the German nation’s fighting spirit”.

Acquired in 1963 from the artist by the State of Berlin with funds from the Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin

Fritz Cremer (1906–1993), Mourning Women (Gestapo), 1936

In 1929 Fritz Cremer arrived in Berlin as a young art student and probably joined the German Communist Party at that point. With sculptor Käthe Kollwitz increasingly prevented from exhibiting, Cremer tied onto her style and themes and produced a bronze relief entitled “Mourning Women”. His fellow students nicknamed the relief “Gestapo”. In the spring of 1936 the director of the United State Colleges of Free and Applied Arts demanded that the relief should be removed, although this did not stop Cremer from winning the Grand State Award a few months later, given annually by the to young artists.

Acquired in 1966 from the artist by the Kulturfonds of the GDR

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), Tower of Mothers, 1937/38

Following the death of her son Peter in the First World War, Käthe Kollwitz began to focus on the topic of mothers caring for their children. Her portrayal of existential sorrow and empathy stood in diametric opposition to the National Socialists’ glorification of war and violence. This sculpture created in 1937/38 also alludes to the fact that, while the Nazis propagated the family as such, they were primarily exploited as breeding centres for the production of human war materiel. Kollwitz was prevented from exhibiting the sculpture and in 1937 the Reich Chamber of Culture banned her from taking part in the annual Christmas exhibition mounted by the studio space in the Ateliergemeinschaft Klosterstraße, the only display venue that had remained open to her.

Acquired in 1984 from Sibylle Schallenberg-Nagel by the Kulturfonds of the GDR

Hermann Blumenthal (1905–1942), Miss Niemöller, 1935

In early 1935 Hermann Blumenthal produced a bust of 17-year-old Ursula Niemöller in Berlin. The young woman was in touch with artists of the studio space in the Ateliergemeinschaft Klosterstraße, where the Reich Ministry of Education had allotted Blumenthal workspace. At the time Ursula Niemöller, the daughter of an officer, worked in a bookshop run by Karl Buchholz, who also mounted exhibitions of works by contemporary artists. Blumenthal contacted the Nationalgalerie directly and offered them his bust: “I’m in a miserable financial state and simply can’t make ends meet. I’d be so happy if you could help me to continue working by buying one of my works”. In August 1942 Blumenthal fell on the Eastern front.

Acquired in 1936 from the artist

Renée Sintenis (1888–1965), Large Thoroughbred Foal, 1940

Known especially for her animal figures, Renée Sintenis was one of the most successful female artists of the Weimar Republic. In 1940 she created a statue of an untamed juvenile horse, “Large Thoroughbred Foal”, thereby opposing aesthetic demands for strength, discipline and perfection. The sculpture is also one of her last bronze-cast objects from the war years; the rationing of resources essential for the war effort deprived her of a valuable raw material. Sintenis wrote: “It’s a really bad blow for me. Most of the others can switch over to stone or whatever, but my things can’t be done in anything else but bronze.”

Acquired in 1957 from the artist with funds from the Deutsche Klassenlotterie

Renée Sintenis (1888–1965), Boy (Uexküll Portrait), 1943

In the middle of the Second World War the sculptor Renée Sintenis was commissioned to create a portrait of a boy, whereupon she modelled her statue of the 4-year-old Carl Alexander von Uexküll, depicting him with an open yet reserved look on his face. The severe expression of the work situates the statue in the period that the boy had been born into. The sitter, who now lives in Sweden, is the son of Edgar von Uexküll and Nadine von Radowitz, who counted personalities such as Max Reinhardt and Thomas Mann among their friends and worked courageously to help people in need during the Nazi period. In one instance, Edgar von Uexküll helped the widow of in her vain attempts to flee. The couple were also members of the Kreisauer Kreis resistance group around Helmuth James Graf von Moltke.

Bequeathed in 1981 by Magdalena Goldmann from the estate of Renée Sintenis

Bernhard Kretzschmar (1889–1972), Social Climbers (House Painters), 1939

In 1939 Bernhard Kretzschmar painted a scene that appears harmless at first glance. On closer inspection of the shop window, however, the viewer notices a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and the face of on the cover of a biography. These two details give the picture two possible interpretations: is the bookshop owner standing in the doorway a National Socialist or has he just slipped the lady some antifascist literature? Are the painters coating the façade in dark brown because the shop is in the process of being “aryanised”? And is it a coincidence that the cyclist is raising his left arm, instead of the right arm as in the Hitler salute? Hitler, an unsuccessful artist, was repeatedly called a “house painter” by his opponents, in the poems of Bertolt Brecht, for instance. The title “Social Climbers” may also be a reference to the rapid rise of Hitler and also of Mussolini, a former bricklayer. The titles of the painting, however, are only documented for the post-war era.

Transferred in 1979 to the Nationalgalerie by the GDR Ministry of Culture

Hans Grundig (1901–1958), Bears and Wolves Fighting, 1938

The painter Hans Grundig joined the German Communist Party in 1926 and was a founding member of the Dresden Association of Revolutionary Fine Artists ( ASSO ). This resulted in his exclusion from the Reich Chamber of Culture a decade later. He continued to paint, however, and produced important pictures, particularly featuring animal imagery, such as this 1938 work depicting Nazi wolves fighting with a Russian bear. The picture appears to foreshadow Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, but nothing about the painting predicts the outcome of the struggle. After being arrested a number of times and subjected to house searches, Grundig was interned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1940 and then conscripted into a penal battalion of the Wehrmacht. In December 1944 he defected to the Red Army.

Acquired in 1965 from the artist’s estate by the Kulturfonds of the GDR

Louise Stomps (1900–1988), The Couple, 1938

In 1938 Louise Stomps created “The Couple”, whose concept and design contradict the heroic National Socialist depictions of people and human physiques. The mutual support offered by the two characters is a reference to the tense situation on the eve of the Second World War, yet it was not just this sculptural vision that was deemed provocative; the artist herself did not conform to society’s image of a woman of the 1930s and ‘40s, which cast her as a mother, not as a sculptress cultivating a mannish persona. Stomps withdrew from the exhibiting circuit and accepted commissions only from private individuals.

Acquired in 1947 from the artist by the Magistrat of Greater Berlin; donated in 1951 by the Magistrat of Greater Berlin

Ernst Wilhelm Nay (1902–1968), Fishermen in the Surf, 1937

In the summer of 1937 the National Socialists confiscated ten works by Ernst Wilhelm Nay from German museums. Afterwards Nay’s “Fishing Boats by the Harbour Mole” from the Nationalgalerie was included in the “Degenerate Art” travelling exhibition under the defamatory heading “This is how sick minds view nature”. Yet this only increased Nay’s defiance and he continued to oppose Nazi ideology with works that reflected his own artistic convictions, as shown by his “Fishermen in the Surf” from the same period. This work is one of his “Lofoten pictures”, which were the result of two summer periods spent in Norway. After the Second World War Nay became one of the key exponents of Abstract art in Germany.

Acquired in 1959 by the Galerie Änne Abels, Cologne, from the estate of Carl Hagemann, Frankfurt/Main

Karl Kunz (1905–1971), Germany, Awaken!, 1942

It is remarkable that in in the war year 1942, a large-scale painting could be created in which Augsburg artist Karl Kunz openly adopted forms and themes favoured by , who had long been classed as “degenerate”. The picture recalls Picasso’s monumental work “Guernica”, which the master created in response to the bombardment of the Basque town by the German Legion Condor. Kunz had withdrawn from the art scene and taken over his father’s lumber business, which is why many of his paintings were executed on plywood sheets that he could easily turn, without a need for hiding space. Right at the outset he gave the work the title “Germany, Awaken!”, an ironic reference to the “Assault Song” of the SA.

Donated in 2015 by Wolfgang Kunz, Berlin

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Large Reclining Nude, 1942

In September 1942 Pablo Picasso completed a drably coloured painting almost two metres in width. He placed the subject, a nude woman, in a space no larger than a prison cell. The pattern on the mattress is reminiscent of a spider’s web in which the person is entangled. Picasso’s studio in occupied Paris had become a contact point for Spanish refugees. Picasso himself was banned from leaving the city. The spatial aspect of the picture reflects the restrictions placed on his mobility. The ‘ugliness’ of the figure on the bed has been interpreted as a demonstrative rejection of National Socialist ideals of beauty.

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris; 1956 Victor and Sally Ganz, New York; 1997 Heinz Berggruen, Paris; 1998-2000 on permanent loan at the Collection Berggruen; acquired in 2000 with assistance of the Federal Government and the State of Berlin

PERSECUTION

Hans Uhlmann (1900–1975), Head, 1935

In 1933 the communist-leaning Hans Uhlmann was about to start a career in art when he was dismissed from his post at the Technical University and then deprived of his liberty. On 26 th October 1933 he was arrested while distributing leaflets and convicted of “planning high treason”. From then until May 1935 he was imprisoned in jails in Berlin-Moabit and Berlin- Tegel. During his imprisonment Uhlmann produced numerous sketches of anonymous portraits, developing his artistic resolution of individual physiognomies. Immediately after his release he created 3-dimensional wire heads based on his sketches. The heads were an expression of his persecution under the National Socialist regime. The soldered iron wire creations are reminiscent of a cage or the bars of a prison cell.

Donated in 1976 by Hildegard Uhlmann

Max Lingner (1888–1959), Mademoiselle Yvonne, 1939

The portrait of Mademoiselle Yvonne, painted in 1939 by Max Lingner, a German resident of Paris since 1928, is a striking testimony to the courage of women in the French resistance. Yvonne was a member of the communist “Union des Jeunes Filles de France” and worked as an underground courier in the occupied Paris. Lingner’s portrayal of Yvonne is a reflection of the strong, indomitable character of this attractive, self-confident woman. She fills the frame, striding towards the observer with head held high. Like many of her sisters-in- struggle, Yvonne was arrested, tortured and deported to Auschwitz, where she died in 1943.

Assigned in 1952 by the Staatliche Kunstkommission of the GDR as a donation from the artist to the German people

Carl Mense (1886–1965), Double Portrait (Rabbi S. and Daughter), c. 1925/26

While working on his double portrait of a rabbi and his daughter, the painter Carl Mense was living in Breslau (Wroclaw), where the Jewish lawyer and art collector Ismar Littmann bought the picture. Following the crash of 1929 Littmann assigned a number of artworks to the Dresdner Bank in Breslau to serve as sureties for loans. In 1933 the National Socialists withdrew Littmann’s licence to practise as a lawyer and on 23rd September 1934 he committed suicide. In 1935 the Prussian State undertook a bulk purchase of artworks held by the Dresdner Bank, works that included Mense’s portrait featuring the rabbi. In conformity with the 1998 Washington Principles, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) has been investigating the histories of artworks in order to identify possible instances in which art was appropriated in circumstances linked to persecution or coercion. In the case of Mense’s Rabbi portrait there were no documents indicating whether it had been assigned to the Dresdner Bank before or after 1933.

Acquired by Ismar Littmann, Breslau; after 1929 assigned to the Dresdner Bank Breslau; en bloc purchase of artworks from the Dresdner Bank by the Prussian State in August 1935; transfer of works in 1936 to the Nationalgalerie by the Reich and Prussian Minister for Science, Education and Culture.

Theo Balden (1904–1995), Head of a Beaten Jew, 1943

Theo Balden’s “Head of a Beaten Jew” from 1943 is an impressive portrayal of persecution. A head marked by humiliation and torture reveals the physical and psychological violence etched upon the person. The man’s downcast, demeaned expression, his swollen-shut eyelids and the severely deformed shape of his head are all indicative of the fate suffered by the Jews of Europe during the National Socialist period. The Jews first suffered discrimination, persecution and daily aggressions and later be exposure to murder and systematic extermination. Theo Balden’s small-sized sculpture in remembrance of the persecution of the Jews was created in exile in Britain, where the artist had lived since 1939.

Acquired in 1975 from the artist

Horst Strempel (1904–1974), Night over Germany, 1945/46

Horst Strempel’s “Night over Germany”, conceived as a Christian altarpiece, is a monumental depiction of the woe and existential fear experienced by people persecuted on the basis of their political convictions or Jewish faith during the Nazi regime. In the central panel a concentration-camp scene shows people marked by the effects of imprisonment and degradation caught in the barbed wire of the camp. Children raise their overlong, pinched arms with bloody-red stock numbers into the air. Strempel’s picture ties in with Otto Dix’ major piece entitled “War”, painted in 1929-32, and is itself an important work of the German post-war period. Strempel is criticising the self-pitying and accusatory attitude of the population and confronting German post-war society with the real victims of National Socialism.

Acquired in 1948 from the artist by the Magistrat of Greater Berlin; donated in 1951 by the Magistrat of Greater Berlin