Deutsche Kunst und entartete "Kunst". Kunstwerk und Zerrbild als Spiegel der Weltanschauung, herausgegeben - German art and degenerate "art". Distorted works of art and images as a mirror of the worldview, edited by Dr. Adolf Dressler. Munich, 1938. An anti-Semitic catalog from the exhibition entartete "Kunst" - "Degenerate Art".
A rare publication that came out as part of the anti-Semitic propaganda that was
constantly active at the time of the exhibition, with exhibits that were shown in the anti-Semitic exhibition "Degenerate Art" that opened in Munich in July 1937, accompanied by hateful sections that denigrate Jewish art and artists and glorify German artists and German art. The antisemitic exhibition "Entartete Kunst" ["Degenerate Art"], initiated and run by the German Reich Propaganda Office, opened in Munich in July 1937 and featured some 650 works by about 100 famous artists confiscated from museums and galleries throughout Germany [including Chagall, Munch, Matisse, and Kandinsky] in order to put them to ridicule in the eyes of the public. At the same time about 20,000 works of art found in public museums in Germany were sold or destroyed. The works were hung in the exhibition rooms in a chaotic crowded manner, and were accompanied by text labels that ridicule the art.
In the catalog, photographs from the exhibition of paintings and Exhibits made by artists such as Otto Dix, George Gross, Ferdinand Spiegel, Walter Hawk, Herman Taubert, Adolf Ziegler, Schmidt-Rotloff, Paul Roloff, Oscar Kokushka, Thomas Baumgartner, Max Beckman, and many more. When the works are displayed opposite each other on the corresponding page - a German work versus a 'degenerate Jewish work' accompanied by antisemitic sentences in form of "against each other", such as: "Plastic of the liberal age. Degenerate as the painting was the sculpture. Only distorted idiots were presented to the people as "works of art at the front" or "At all times, the praise of the homeland was one of the most beautiful tasks of the creative artist. But what is the meaning of the German landscape to the Jewish desert people and its distorted followers? This is how landscape painting turned into a disgusting, distorted image", etc.
In the introduction, Dreseler more than anyone else expresses the anti-Semitic worldview manifested in the exhibition: "Parallel to the rebirth of the German people, we are experiencing the resurgence of German art. It is impossible to separate the two, because art is the living part of the people and the true reflection of their inner life. Before the war, German art began to detach itself from the people. Artists forgot the eternal truth that no art can live without a living connection to people... It was only when the Führer, in parallel to taking control of the political power, began reshaping the entire basis of life of the German people through the National Socialist worldview, that a huge change also began in German art. Adolf Hitler reaffirmed the eternal appreciation of true art... This marked the beginning of a new era for German artistic creativity, paving the way for artists to work from inner conviction, no longer subject to criticism from a Jewish-Bolshevik literary clique..."
The purpose of the exhibition was to show the public the 'decay of civilization' through original works of the human race, in the face of the great turning point in German works striving for a clean and progressive future. The Nazis called Jewish art "insult to German feelings". Degenerate art was defined as non-German, Jewish, or communist art in its character. The exhibition was designed to present everything that the Nazis perceived as corrupt, degenerate and perverted in modern art.
The exhibition traveled to several cities in Germany until 1941. It was accompanied by propaganda materials such as pamphlets, postcards and posters which created the antisemitic atmosphere within the framework of Nazi propaganda. Culturally, the exhibition was the culmination of the presentation of the Nazi 'enlightenment' and 'progress' in the face of the Jewish 'decay' that threatens to destroy the world in the field of art as well. The entry to the exhibition was free and was visited by over two million people during the years of its presentation. During the exhibition avant-garde German artists were now classified as enemies of the state and a threat to German culture. Many went into exile, others continued to live in Germany, but were banned from teaching at universities and the Gestapo would make surprise visits to them to make sure they were not engaged in art. Jewish artists who did not flee were sent to the extermination camps.
80 p. [32 text pages and 47 image pages], 21 cm. Hardcover with the original Dust jacket. Reinforcements with glue on the upper edges of the dust jacket. Very good condition.
