Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany 1937

by Olaf Peters (Editor)

This book accompanies the first major museum exhibition devoted to a reconstruction of the infamous Nazi display of modern art since the presentation originated by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1991. During the Nazi regime in Germany, -degenerate art- was the official term for much of the most important modern art of the day. -Degenerate art- was defined by the Nazi regime as artwork that was not in line with the National Socialists' ideas of beauty. Their condemnation extended to works in nearly every major art movement: Expressionism, Dada, New Objectivity, Surrealism, Cubism, and Fauvism. Banned artists included Max Beckmann, Paul Klee, and Oskar Kokoschka. Richly illustrated, Degenerate Art elucidates the historical and intellectual context of the notorious exhibition in Munich in 1937, which spurred the attack on modern art. The book contains reflections on the genesis and evolution of the term -degenerate art- and details of the National Socialist policy on art. Art works from the exhibition Degenerate Art are compared to works of art from The Great German Art Exhibition, which was held at the same time and displayed the works of officially approved artists. The book also presents the after-effects of the attack on modernism that are felt even today.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Art History, Germany

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 2014

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really a unified book, but a series of essays interspersed with plates from the exhibition it accompanied. The essays aren't all of equal quality, but they do look at "Degenerate Art" -- both the infamous 1937 exhibition and the broader concept -- from a variety of angles, including the ideas that led to that exhibition and the post-war aftermath.

[Dina Gold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifying to see in such graphic detail the lunacy that descended on Germany during the Third Reich. That people thought this work was fit for the rubbish dump of history. Indeed a warning from history.

[The Jewish Book Council]

Review by Esther Nussbaum for the Jewish Book Council.