Art & Politics in the Weimar Period: The New Sobriety, 1917-1933

by John Willett

Examines the rise, fall, and ramifications of such cultural movements as cubism, futurism, expressionism, constructivism, and the New Sobriety within the context of Weimar political and economic developments

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, Germany, Art History, European History, Politics

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk]

Absolutely brilliant. This is almost the bible on the Weimar Period and its contribution to Art & Design.

[Randy Wilson]

This book interweaves the destructive political forces that overtook Germany along with the vital and revolutionary artistic developments during the 1920s. It is almost too much because the author tries to cover not just German politics but also Russian as well. He also broadly reviews artists in Germany, Russia, Holland, France and even includes figures like Charlie Chaplin.

This artistic breadth and scope conveys the energy, vision and sheer audacity of what many artists were doing. However, because the author covers so much I got lost in the weeds of too many names and just a sentence or two to describe their impact on their field and culture.

In the conclusion which is very insightful the author points out that much of the art offered a way forward for society and the Nazis and Stalin both crippled that effort and may have been reacting against it. The gauntlet was thrown by the artists and picked up by the tyrants with false utopian aspirations who had to obliterate the messier alternative posed by the artistic world. I wish the book had focused on fewer artists and more deeply their societal aspirations to show us specifically what the world missed out on.

[Bernie4444]

The pictures alone are worth it.

Not sure of the purpose of the book other than a chronicle of the time from 1917 through 1933. Even though the focus is on the Weimar Republic the articles include the infusion of Soviet culture and some U.S. technical influence.

To describe the whole book here, would take time and end up looking like a whole book for the review. So, I slowed down and concentrated on the cinema as I am fairly familiar with some of that time. The section on the cinema moved very fast and was more like name-dropping than it was describing its purpose or what we were looking at. So, the book is probably better purchased for its pictures than it is for what it has to say.

[Lysergius]

A lavishly illustrated review of the interaction between and arts and politics in Weimar Germany in the period 1917 - 1933.

[Moira Downey]

Phew! After a busy September, I finally managed to get this thing finished, in tiny bits and bites (it's not even that long!). It's exhaustive, and a little bit exhausting. Nicely lays out the interconnected nature of the European interwar art community, particularly the close link between the German and Russian avant-gardes of the 1920s. Not only that, but the discussion helpfully branches out beyond the visual arts to encompass the political underpinnings of the period's architecture, design, theater, opera, fiction, and nascent film industry.

[Tina]

this is a much different cover than the edition i have