“As for the degenerate artists, I forbid them to force their so-called experience upon the public. If they do see fields blue, they are deranged, and should go to an asylum. If they only pretend to see them blue, they are criminals, and should go to prison. I'll purge the nation of them.”
-Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler's ascension to the position of Chancellor of the ailing Wiemar Republic in 1933 started the National Socialist (Nazi) regime. Shortly before the beginning of World War II, Germany witnessed vast changes while under the new dictatorial government, such as the censorship of art. While in power, Hitler established the Reich Chamber of Visual Art, whose sole responsibility was to determine if artwork was worthy to appear in national exhibitions. Paintings and sculptures that were not approved by the government were labeled as entartete künst (degenerate art). The strict regulations towards artwork affected artists across the Germany in various ways, resulting in some artists being imprisoned while others became prosperous. (Shirer, n.pag.)
Because of the air raids across Europe, “not much is known about the art of the Third Reich”. Furthermore, “it is assumed that the artwork is so terrible that is not worthy of receiving the attention of art historians”(Adam 7,8). The Nazi art remnants of war-torn Europe were hidden from public up into the late 1990's . After the invasion of Berlin, some of it was taken by the Allied Forces and locked away while most of the remaining paintings and sculptures were hidden from the German people. The artwork was considered, “an embarrassment to the German government”. While in power, Hitler, “declared that... Cubists, Futurists, Dadaists, and Surrealists... were criminals and insa...
... middle of paper ...
...ct that the Third Reich did not last long and artists such as Beckmann were able to flee the country, Hitler failed to achieve his goal of ridding the world of modernists. However, the affects that the Third Reich had on painters and sculptors were diverse.
Works Cited
Adam, Peter. The Arts of the Third Reich. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Print.
Breker, Arno. The Guard 1936.
Bauer, Rudolf. Furioso. 1918. Oil on Board. Weinstein Gallery, San Francisco.
Carmilly, Moshe. Fear of Art; Censorship and Freedom of Expression in Art. New York: Bowker, 1986. Print.
Clinefelter, Joan L. Artists for the Third Reich: Culture and Race from Wiemar to Nazi Germany New York: Oxford. 2005. Print.
Dix, Otto. Trench Warfare. 1923.
Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich a History of Nazi Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 1990. Print.
In the years between 1933 and 1945, Germany was engulfed by the rise of a powerful new regime and the eventual spoils of war. During this period, Hitler's quest for racial purification turned Germany not only at odds with itself, but with the rest of the world. Photography as an art and as a business became a regulated and potent force in the fight for Aryan domination, Nazi influence, and anti-Semitism. Whether such images were used to promote Nazi ideology, document the Holocaust, or scare Germany's citizens into accepting their own changing country, the effect of this photography provides enormous insight into the true stories and lives of the people most affected by Hitler's racism. In fact, this photography has become so widespread in our understanding and teaching of the Holocaust that often other factors involved in the Nazi's racial policy have been undervalued in our history textbooks-especially the attempt by Nazi Germany to establish the Nordic Aryans as a master race through the Lebensborn experiment, a breeding and adoption program designed to eliminate racial imperfections.
The tragedies of the holocaust forever altered history. One of the most detailed accounts of the horrific events from the Nazi regime comes from Elie Wiesel’s Night. He describes his traumatic experiences in German concentration camps, mainly Buchenwald, and engages his readers from a victim’s point of view. He bravely shares the grotesque visions that are permanently ingrained in his mind. His autobiography gives readers vivid, unforgettable, and shocking images of the past. It is beneficial that Wiesel published this, if he had not the world might not have known the extent of the Nazis reign. He exposes the cruelty of man, and the misuse of power. Through a lifetime of tragedy, Elie Wiesel struggled internally to resurrect his religious beliefs as well as his hatred for the human race. He shares these emotions to the world through Night.
Gottfried, Ted, and Stephen Alcorn. Nazi Germany: The Face of Tyranny. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2000. Print.
Through out the duration of the war the looting and destroying of artworks continued. One might even say it was an obsession. Hitler at the time wanted to create a museum of the best art.
Gesink, Indira. "Fascism, Nazism and Road to WWII." World Civilizations II. Baldwin Wallace University. Marting Hall, Berea. 3 April 2014. Class lecture.
Living in the crumbled remains of Germany, or the Weimar Republic, in the 1920’s was a dismal existence. Hyperinflation was rampant and the national debt skyrocketed as a result of the punishing features of the Treaty of Versailles. During the depression, however, a mysterious Austrian emerged from the depths of the German penal system and gave the desperate German people a glimpse of hope in very dark times. He called for a return to “Fatherland” principles where greater Germany was seen as the center of their universe with zealous pride. Under Hitler’s leadership, Nazi Germany rapidly grew and expanded, continually approaching the goal of world domination and the “Thousand-Year Reich” that Hitler promised the German people. Only a few years later, Nazi Wehrmacht soldiers could be seen marching the streets from Paris to Leningrad (St. Petersburg, Russia). The German Empire, however, like all other expansive empires, had its limits and integral components such as resources, manpower, and industrial capacity began to fall in short supply further crippling the Nazi war machine. Basically, by 1944, “Nazi Germany’s fundamental problem was that she has conquered more territory than she could defend” (Ambrose, 27). Hitler conquered a vast area and vowed to defend every single inch of his empire with every last drop of blood at his disposal. As Frederick the Great warned, “He who defends everything, defends nothing” (Ambrose, 33). It is interesting to study any empire’s rise and fall because similarities are always present, even with some nations today promising to fight the evil, when it reality, it might be becoming what it vows to fight.
Art for Art's Sake: Its Fallacy and Viciousness. The Art World, Vol.2. May 1917. 98-102
Koehn, Ilse. Mischling, Second Degree: My Childhood in Nazi Germany. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1977.
In 1942 in the summer, Hans Scholl and Alex Schmorell wrote the first four leaflets of six opposition leaflets, called the “Leaves of the White Rose.” These leaflets criticized the Nazi regime and mentioned all of their crimes, from the mass extermination of Jews, to the dictatorship and the elimination of the personal freedoms of Germany’s citizens from the mass extermination of Jews. They called the Nazi regime evil, and called for Germans to stand up and resist the oppression of their government. These leaflets also were made up of quotes from great philosophers and greatly admired writers, establishing how they were clearly aimed at the intellectual public, and particularly students and professors. Across the bottom of the leaflets was this phrase, “Please make as many copies of this leaflet as you can and distribute them.”
Richard Overy, "Misjudging Hitler: A.J.P. Taylor and the Third Reich" (London: Routledge, 1992) pp. 95
Goldwater, Robert and Marco Treves (eds.). Artists on Art: from the XIV to the XX Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945.
Upon analysis of Night, Elie Wiesel’s use of characterization and conflict in the memoir helps to illustrate how oppression and dehumanization can affect one’s identity by describing the actions of the Nazis and
He wished to become an artist but was rejected from the Academy in Vienna. (http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/adolf-hitler) Hitler had a lot to do with Germany and he was remembered, but not because of anything positive, but because he was one of the worst coldhearted dictators Germany or the world could’ve experienced.
"You can wipe out an entire generation, you burn their homes to the ground and somehow they will still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements and it as if they never existed"(Cambell,2014). During World War II the Nazis would go through the countries they occupied. The art they took was either put in their own museums or they burned them. The Nazis stole millions of pieces of art, mostly pieces that were made from the end of the of the 18th century up until the 1900 's. Hitler ordered his soldiers to steal the art to gain power over other cultures. At the end of the war, the Allies were on a hunt to find all the missing and stolen art the Nazis hid at the end of the war. The big debate today is if the stolen art should go back to their rightful owners. Over a span of six years, the Nazis stole millions of paintings the trails to get those back to their rightful owners has had a lasting impression on today 's world.
Retrieved January 5, 2014 from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/art-censorship-and-morality 3. Mother and child devided. (n.d.). Astrup Fearnley Museet. Retrieved January 5, 2014 from http://afmuseet.no/en/samlingen/utvalgte-kunstnere/h/damien-hirst/mother-and-child-divided 4.