German art and degenerate "art" - an antisemitic propaganda pamphlet that accompanied the exhibition "entartete ...

German art and degenerate "art" - an antisemitic propaganda pamphlet that accompanied the exhibition "entartete "Kunst". Munich, 1938

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 antisemitic propaganda pamphlet which accompanied the exhibition entartete "Kunst" - 'Degenerate Art'.

In the preface to the pamphlet, Dressler expresses more than anything the following antisemitic worldview expressed in the exhibition and in the accompanying pamphlet: "At the same time as the resurrection of the German people, we are experiencing the revival of German art. The two cannot be separated, as art is the living part of the people and the true reflection of its inner life, in the pre-war period German art began to detach from the people. Art can not live without a living connection with the people ... only when the Fuhrer, in parallel with the takeover of political power, began to reshape the entire basis of life of the German people through the National Socialist worldview, a tremendous change in German art also began. Adolf Hitler argued again the eternal appreciation of real art ... Thus began a new era for German artistic creativity, paving the way for artists to act out of an inner conviction, which is no longer subject to criticism by a Jewish-Bolshevik literary clique ... "

The booklet included photographs from the exhibition 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 the style "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 on 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?" Etc.

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, Monk, 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.

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 this art an "insult to German feelings." Degenerate art was defined as non-German, Jewish, or communist art in its character. The exhibition is 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 pages [32 pages of text and 47 pages of images], 21 cm. Few stains on cover. Good condition.