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The Degenerate Art Show

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The Degenerate Art Show IRONDALE ENSEMBLE PROJECTNEWSNEWS Spring 1988 Special “Nazi” Edition Volume 1 No. 3 The Degenerate Art Show (A History of Art Censorship in Nazi Germany) By John Silvers Many modern artists, such as Dix and fessors, as well as approximately thirty Soul" reveal these presentations as pri- As early as the year 1920, thirteen Beckmann, (both of whom served in museum directors, and replace them with marily political. They were not intended to years before his coming to power in Ger- World War I) were anti-war and members from the Combat League. And exhibit the works of art for their own sake; many, Adolf Hitler had already pinpointed expressed that sentiment in their work. in doing so, he placed local decision-mak- the "subversiveness" of the art was to be avant-garde art as a major threat to the Abstract art of this nature encouraged a ing directly in the hands of his supporters. seen as an indication of the degeneration success of his newly formed National high level of viewer interpretation and it Now that they were largely in of German culture under the "decadence" Socialist German Labor Party (NSDAP or was not conducive to Hitler's political control of the country's museums, the of the former government, the Weimar Nazi Party). Hitler himself was an aspiring agenda to allow the public to be intellec- Combat League saw to it that the modern Republic. This provocation of the public's painter, who as a tually disassoci- art departments were shut down and their indignation was designed to bring about young man had ated from the collections locked up in storage. It was at the celebration of Hitler as the hero of a failed to gain NSDAP. With this this point that the first exhibitions aimed at revolutionary new government contribut- acceptance into in mind, Hitler defaming avant-garde art and its defend- ing to his political stabilization. the Academy of branded this kind ers were organized. As it would be in the By 1936, Hitler and Reich Minister for Visual Arts in of art as case of the famous "Entartete Kunst" Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Vienna, when his obscene, a viola- (Degenerate Art) exhibition of 1937, these Joseph Goebbels had achieved almost work was tion of religious early local shows displayed works of total control over German cultural affairs. deemed unsatis- feelings, an modern art in a crooked, cramped, and The fields of literature, press, broadcast- factory. Enam- appeal to class unflattering style. They were often hung ing, theater, music, film, and the visual ored of the struggle, an upside down or without frames, to give an arts were all tightly monitored by the romantic realism encouragement appearance of crudeness. The galleries Reich Chamber of Culture under of works painted of military sabo- were poorly lit. Anti-Semitic, anti-Commu- Goebbels. Only members of the Cham- prior to the tage, and a nist, and anti-intellectual slogans were ber were permitted to practice these in 1860's, Hitler resemblance to commonly scrawled on walls as com- professions. A test of racial ancestry and harbored a the artistic efforts mentary on the art and the artists. Exhibi- political reliability was administered to strong hatred for of the mentally tion titles such as "Images of Cultural Bol- applicants to the Chamber, making it emerging art handicapped. shevism," "Chambers of Horror of Art," possible to exclude unwanted artists and forms such as The intent of the and "Art that Did Not Issue From Our Continued on page 4 expressionism, accusations was cubism, surreal- to create in the ism, and viewer a predis- dadaism. His Poster for original "Degenerate Art" Show position against harsh opinions of modern art were likely the art work. fueled by a desire to obtain revenge for One of the most significant early devel- the squelching of his own artistic dreams. opments in the successful propagation of In an early speech to the Nazi party, Hitler Hitler's ideology was the founding of the proclaimed, "We demand the legal fight Combat League for German Culture in against a tendency in art and literature the late 1920's. Although not officially which exerts a subversive influence on sanctioned by the NSDAP, the League the life of our people." was a repository of racist and national- Why was modern art such a threat to conservative associations. Its members Nazi Germany? Expressionists made it carried out openly aggressive agitation on clear that their art would not be con- a local level throughout Germany. When strained by social norms or the bounds of Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany realism. The works of popular modern in 1933, he immediately changed certain German artists like Otto Dix and Max laws governing civil service. This move Beckmann exposed the inner pyscholog- allowed him to dismiss from office ical/emotional lives of their subjects. unwanted university and academy pro- Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" Irondale Ensemble Project, P.O. Box 1314; Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10011 Non Profit www.irondale.org Organization U.S. Postage Paid New York, NY 5443 by the Irondale Ensemble Project With original music by Walter Thompson Performed live by the Walter Thompson Orchestra Theater for the New City 155 First Avenue (Between 9th and 10th Street) April 22 -May 23 Call for Reservations: (212) 633-1292 Wednesday - Saturdays, 8pm, Tickets: $15.00, $10.00 for students/seniors/Passports to Off Broadway, TDF accepted Cabaret:The Reconstructing Framing Device "Entartete Kunst": the By Jim Niesen originators and take on the more seri- LA Exhibition The dilemma: How to convey the ous and more satirically aggressive By Michael Goodfriend reconstruction of several rooms of the complexity of the historical events tone of its German creators. On February 1991, an exhibition original Entarte Kunst show," said Ms. which make up the story of the In the years following the end of the entitled "Degenerate Art": The Fate of Barron, "ours was an exhibition in which Entartete Kunst exhibition while avoid- First World War, Berlin emerged as the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany there was no margin for substitution in ing the trap of well-meant but earnest Germany's first truly cosmopolitan opened at the Los Angeles County the roster of requested works. Much of kitchen sink naturalism (which is want city. Permissiveness pervaded the Museum of Art. The exhibition was a the art we sought required exceptions to to sink into the realm of love story -- city. Berlin embraced all comers. meticulous reconstruction of the infa- long-standing loan restrictions." In the witness the recent film Titanic where 120 daily newspapers were pub- mous art exhibition Entartete Kunst end, the reconstruction required the the obvious tale of young passion lished here. Theaters sprang up over (Degenerate Art) staged by the Nazis in cooperation of over 100 lenders from obscures a much more interesting film night. Cabarets mushroomed. The July of 1937. In the catalogue that around the world. In some cases, entire lurking beneath the story: an examina- cabarets thrived on the lax censorship accompanied the exhibition, organizer exhibitions of modern, pre-WWII art tion of classism and relative human and featured erotic Stephanie Barron, scheduled in other cities were delayed value in the early days of the twentieth entertainment. curator of Twentieth so as not to jeopardize loans planned for century) or emerge as a form of "histo- American-based Century Art at the LACMA show. ry from above"-events seen only from jazz was incorporat- LACMA wrote, As the exhibition developed, it the perspective of the "great men" ed into this Kabarett "From the outset it expanded beyond a reconstruction of whose names are most commonly con- culture that gave was clear that to the original show to include documenta- nected with and who are often held to rise to a group of reconstruct as much tion of Nazi censorship of other art be solely responsible for the historical serious left wing as possible of the forms. Researchers uncovered volumes events . artists who used the original Entartete of information regarding the Nazis' sup- The solution: To play the events as small stage to Kunst exhibition of pression of film, music, and literature. if they are being re-enacted by a expose and satirize 650 works of art, let The exhibition was expanded to include troupe of 1930's German Cabaret per- the conditions of alone to place Ger- these materials. Designers of great formers as a contemporary agitprop German society. man events of more repute were involved in the development newspaper, using the skills of their It is important to than fifty years ago of the show. Distinguished architect trade to pass on what they know. This note how much the in perspective for Frank Gehry designed the installation, allows the company to avoid the heroic cabaret influenced American audi- LACMA designer Jim Drobba conceived or great man syndrome in the narrative Brecht and through ences, would be a and executed the graphics, and expert and to tell the story from the point of him twentieth cen- formidable under- modelmaker Eric Marable reconstructed view of ordinary people, with the tury theater. As taking." a scaled down version of the original famous figures of the time appearing early as 1924 Conceiving, exhibition hall. on stage never as in the round repre- Brecht spoke of an organizing, and Funding for the show came from a sentations, but only as caricatured "epic smoke the- mounting the exhibi- wide range of sources. The Federal cabaret-theater portraits. ater," a place where tion took five years Republic of Germany took great interest Some background on the cabaret people might come of sustained effort.
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