Postwar Art in Germany

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Postwar Art in GermanyAuthor(s): Bernard MyersReviewed work(s):Source: College Art Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Spring, 1951), pp. 251-256+260

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POSTWARART IN GERMANY

By BernardMyers

PERHAPSthe most astonishingaspectof the postwarartisticsituation n

Germany s its completelack of directresponseto the conditionsof thetime. We may assume that the preponderant nterest in various forms of

abstraction,chieflyabstract urrealismand abstractexpressionism,representsan attempt o escapefrom the unpleasantrealitiesof a bombedout world. Atthe sametime,we mustcontendwith a considerablequantityof middle-of-the-roadpaintingand sculpture,pleasantsubjectsdonein a pleasantmanner, hat

clutterthe annualexhibitionsof Kunstvereine hroughoutGermany. n theirown way thesealso fall into the categoryof refusingto facereality.

If we look back to the last postwar period, when differentforms of

emotiveand stridentexpressioncame into their own, when New Objectivitycut throughthe shamof profiteeringand middleclasscomplacency,when artwas a direct and violent protestagainstphysical,moral,and political condi-

tions, we are surprisedat the apathyand indifferenceof today.Yet we mustreckon with the fact that even today'sart is a reaction o its milieu, a milieu

considerably ifferent romthatof the early wenties.

In the previousperiodof defeat,therewas still a visiblephysicalenviron-

ment,a moreor less progressivegovernmentwith a few tatteredrevolutionaryideals remainingand a situationin which the Germanswere on their own,

strugglingto emergefrom the chaos of warand inflation.The situationtodayis vastlydifferent.All of West Germany s occupiedbut-what is more im-

portant-it is eating, and eating well. AlthoughGermaneconomy s still inthe processof re-establishingtself, the food problemis well takencareof,thanksto the Occupationpowers,so thata convulsiveand agonizingstrugglehas been

avoided. Neither inflation nor its concomitant dislocation is inevidence.

Yet one can hardlylook aboutany of the largercities withoutrealizingthat a great deal has happened.When I revisitedGermanyn the summerof

1947, it was an unforgettableexperienceof desolationwith city after citystandingin absoluteruin. By 1950, during my second postwartrip, thingswere just beginningto be cleanedup and althoughin some areasstrenuouseffortswere being made to put things to rights physically,there were manyplaces indeed where rebuilding seemed virtually impossible. This is the

psychologicalandscapewhichthe modernGermanartisthas for milieu.251



252 COLLEGE ART JOURNAL

Another and perhaps decisive factor operatingon the outlook of the

averageGermanat presentis the conviction that he is living in a temporary

world which at any momentmay be disintegratedonce and for all. Lookingat things this way, thereis verylittle incentiveto struggle, ittle hope in whathe sees about him, and very little to expect from the future. It is scarcelyto be wondered that Germanart is ecapinginto varioustypes of abstractionor intogentle lyricism.

Considering he fact that for thirteenyearsmodern art in Germanywas

under an interdict, he qualityof worknow being done is exceptionallyhigh.True,the kind of masterwho existedin the daysof Die Briickeor Der Blaue

Reiter has not yet emerged,butthe youthis just beginningto be trainedagainand, to some extent,by the veteransof the twenties.

Among these significantsurvivors we find Karl Hofer, Karl Schmidt-

Rottluff,GerhardMarcks,ErichHeckel,andMaxPechstein,who areteaching.Others include Otto Dix, Xaver Fuhr, Emil Nolde, Renee Sintenis, Willi

Baumeister,Karl Caspar,Max Kaus, and Alfred Kubin. Both the teachers

and the non-teachers ontinueto work and to that extent furnish a valuable

link with the past.Althoughmanyof themhavechanged heirstylesmarkedlysince the old days, they are still men and women of high professionalcom-

petenceand in that sense furnish an excellent foundation on which

progresscanbe made.

To those familiarwith the pre-HitlerGermandevelopment, t maybe of

interest to see what has happenedto some of the survivorsof that epoch.

Among the Briickemembers,Schmidt-Rottluffs todayperhaps he mostsatis-

factorypainter, having developed a strong emotive fauve style during the

thirties-during the periodwhen he was officially orbidden to paint.Heckeland Pechsteinhave becomemore conventional in their approach,especiallythe latter, although a recent traveling retrospectiveof Heckel's work was

quite impressive.Nolde, the ancientof this school now in his eighties, isstill painting powerfully,playing interestingvariationson his earlierwork.

A 1950 show in Cologne of his worksof the past ten yearsor so was very

exciting.Willi Baumeisterand Xaver Fuhr, among abstractpainters,find them-

selves workingin a mannerquite suitableto the times. Among the surviving

sculptorsof the past generation,GerhardMarcks,ReneeSintenis,and Ewald

Matar6are still workingon a veryeffective evel. Dix, amongthe formerNew

Objectivitypainters,has now turned toward a mystic religiosity quite dif-

ferent in its diffuseform. Alfred Kubinin Austriahas been quite ill for the

pastfew yearsandis no longeractive.



POSTWAR ART IN GERMANY 253

Hofer, who sufferedmore than most artists due to the almostcompleteloss of his early work throughbombardment,has been teaching, editing a

magazine,andgradually indinghis waytowarda new style.No longer tryingto reproducehis old paintings with ratherunsatisfactory esults,Hofer hasevolved a new, more abstracttype of expressionfilled with overwhelmingloneliness.

Among the exiles, Campendonkhas returned o Germany rom Amster-damwherehe had been teachingduringthe Hitler period.Feininger n New

York, Kokoschka n London, and the recentlydeceasedMax Beckmann n

St. Louis and New York, have spread the message of expressionism o a

younggenerationhere.

Among those who have died since the end of the war areGeorgeKolbeand Oskar Moll. Others who died during the Hitler period itself were

Kirchner,Klee, Schlemmer,Rohlfs, Barlach,and Kandinsky.In painting today,a numberof namesmay be singled out as character-

istic of what is happening.ErnstGeitlinger (b. 1895), who lived for manyyearsin the U.S. workingwith the painter-designerWinold Reiss, has beena theatreartistsince 1919. His most typicalworks are relatedin style and

feeling to Chagall. Geitlinger's interest in the imaginativesurrealismof

Chagallis characteristic f a

great many contemporaryGermans,e.g. Alex-anderCamaro(b. 1901).ErnstWilhelm Nay (b. 1902), who hasworkedwith Hofer andMunch,

is one of the best known of the youngerGermansand maybe classifiedas anabstractsurrealist n the Masson sense. Very strong in emotive quality and

unquestionablymore than merely competent,Nay gives us the feeling of acertainderivativequality stemmingfrom the other side of the Rhine, as isoften indeedthe casewith theyoungerGermanartists.

Other leading abstractsurrealistsinclude the extremely able Joseph

Fassbender(b. 1903), the old masterWilli Baumeister(b. 1889), HansThiemann (b. 1910), and the very effectiveWerner Gilles (b. 1894), aformerexpressionist.

GeorgeMeistermann,anothercurrentcelebrity (b. 1911), who studiedunder Nauen and Mataregives forth a violent abstractexpressionism.Hisrecentprize-winningThe New Adam, a featureof the 1948-1949 nation-wide

competitionamong contemporaryGermanartists (generouslysponsoredbyBlevins Davis of KansasCity, Missouri), showsstrongtracesof Guernica. nthis picturewe feel quite clearlyan unusuallyenergeticdesireto create a new

world fromthe ruinsof theold.

Young Germansfollowing the abstractexpressionistpath of Kandinsky




includethe coloristicallybrilliantandoriginalFritz Winter (b. 1905), Louise

R6sler, and GerhardFietz (b. 1910). The best sculpturebeing producedis

primarilyabstract nd is seenon its highestlevel in the workof KarlHartung(1b.1908). Wire sculpturesby Hans Uhlmann (b. 1900) are exciting,even

if not altogetheroriginal. The work of the veteran Ewald Matar6is still

outstanding.As to whetherexpressionismn the Briickesensehas continued nto this

era, one can point to the workof the northernerKarl Kluth (b. 1898), the

Berliner Werner Scholz (b. 1898), and the Mainz painter Paul Strecker

(b. 1900), who represent he generation mmediately ollowing that of the

Briickepeople themselvesand generallydevelopedduringthe twenties.More

recentexpressionistsof this type may be found principallyamong graphicartistsand includeEdwin Maier(b. 1911), Alfred Wais (b. 1905), andHans

Fiihnle(b. 1903).When I askedKarlSchmidt-Rottluffuringthe summerof 1950 whether

he felt thatexpressionismn the old sensestill continued,he answered n the

affirmative nd cited his experienceamongthe presentcropof students.This,

however,is true mainlyfor the Berlin areawhere he, Pechstein,and Hofer

are teaching- nd where the sense of day-to-day truggle is far greaterthan

elsewhereinGermany.

Fromwhat I was able to observein a few months,

it is not the casein the WesternZone.

As for the objectiveconditionsfor the art student,therearethe various

revived academies uch as Berlin, Hamburg,Karlsruhe,etc., where first-rate

instructions available n paintingand sculpture.Exhibitionsof variouskinds

are increasingly requent,both of the mastersof Germanmodernismand of

the newer men as well. These are shown in the still smallnumberof private

galleries and in the variousmuseums,most of which are in the processof

rebuilding.

The situationof the Germanmuseums s one of the most interestingphe-nomenaof the postwarperiod.As is generallyknown,the artpurgeof 1937

divested the Germanmuseums of most, if not all their modern works-

except a number of graphicswhich could be hidden or picturesreturned o

their original private donors for safekeeping. The private collector was

(except when he was Jewishor otherwisenon-German)in a morefavorable

positionthan the museum,for his things were presumablynot liable to con-

fiscation.Moreover,he was able in manycasesto extricatehimself fromthese

difficultiesmorereadily han apublicmuseumofficial.

It is of courseknown that the Nazis sold a good manyimportantpaint-ings and sculpturesat their infamousLucerneauctionin 1938, but it is less



POSTWAR ART IN GERMANY 255

known that private individualsin Germanycould approach he appropriate

Partyofficialand buy for dollarsor Swiss francsthingsthatwere slatedeither

for destructionor sale out of the country.We have, then, a paradoxicalitua-tion in Germanywhere manymuseums have far fewer modernthings than

privatecollectorsand it is virtually mpossibleto get an all-overview of Ger-

man developmentwithout visiting such collectionsas those of Frau Martha

Rauert n Hamburg,HerrSprengel n Hannover,and FrauLangein Krefeld.

Somemuseums, ike the one in Frankfurt, ave benefitedrom significant

bequestssince the end of the war which change completely he complexionof their modern assets.The HagemannCollection in that museum, ike the

HaubrichCollection n the Wallraf-RichartzMuseum n Cologne,havemade

all the differenceto those institutions.At the other extreme,the celebrated

FolkwangMuseumat Essenwas not only strippedby the Nazis but bombed

out as well, and is now locatedat SchlossHugenpoetat a considerable istance

from the city with but a fraction of its formerpossessions.Somemuseums

have been forced to buy back from privatepeople pictureswhich at one time

belongedto the museums.

These collectionsof modern Germanart,wherethey exist, areextremely

importantnot only to the young painter and sculptorbut to the general

public and to the student of art history.The art-lovingpublic, once a con-siderablefactorin Germany, s coming to life again, if attendanceat exhibi-

tions and lecturesis any symptom.Pressures rom the right exist already n

the form of middle-of-the-road rt fostered in variouspartsof the countryand by various conservativegroups.The attitude of the right wing political

parties s also anti-modern, lthoughnot yet on a significant cale.

The situationof arthistoryin postwarGermanys farfromhappy.Here

the destructionof a generationof young men by the war, the suppressionof

honest historical ntentionsunder the Hitler regime,have made for a serious

lack of capablestudents.Similarly,the destructionof certainphotographicarchivesduringthe Hitler periodmakethe situation of the modern research

student ratherdifficult.This is reflected n the relativelysmall numberof

bookson arthistorypublishedwithin the past five yearsand in the abysmallybad qualityof certainof these, as well as the poor reproductionwork that is

still beingdonein manyplaces.The shortageof books and periodicalson art is so seriousthat museum

and university ibrariesare often far less equippedthanthe averageAmerican

university eacher'sprivate ibrary.To some extentthis situation s met by the

various AmericaHouses in Germancities,which subscribe o a good number

of art and architecturemagazinesand receive occasionalcopies of recent




Americanbooks on art. But these institutionshave nothing to do with the

universityor museum world and do not have anything remotelyresembling

a workinglibrary.The America Houses perform the additional importantfunction of

exhibiting Germanand Americanpainting, scenic design, photography,etc.

The chief emphasisis on exhibits dealing directlywith life in America;in

the areaof art the presentationof Americanaccomplishmenteaves a greatdeal to be desired. Due to U.S. governmentalprejudiceagainstcontemporaryart, it has not beenpossibleto show the Germanpublicthe scopeand level of

art in the U.S. A large scale exhibition of paintingsby GrandmaMoses left

the Munichpublicsomewhatbemused astsummer,while theverydecentshow

of Americanpaintingsofferedby the StedelijkMuseum n Amsterdam ome-how did not get to Germany.

Although in general Europeansare still somewhatunwilling to acceptAmerican art as an independentexpression,there is a large segmentof the

Germanpublic that is very much interested n everythingpertainingto this

country.This can readilybe seen from the way in which Americanmaga-zines and booksaredevouredby the variousage levels. A tremendoushungerfor culturalexperienceof all kinds: music,dance, cinema,and art-after the

long periodof

drought-makesthis a natural ime for the

presentationf the

Americanculturalviewpoint. It is no longer a secret that Americais the

world's leading producerin the materialsense; this would be the time to

showthe otherAmerica.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Theo Bitter is a thirty-three year old Dutch painter, who is regarded as one of the

foremost younger artists in the Netherlands. In 1949 he won the Jacob Maris Prize

for the best painting done in The Hague during the last five years. He teaches at the

Academy of Arts in The Hague.Lester Burbank Bridaham is Secretary of The Art Institute of Chicago, the author of

Gargoyles, Chim&res,and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture; assistant directorof the annual Old Northwest Territory Art Exhibit at the Illinois State Fair, a painterhimself and a national director of Artists Equity Association.

Clarence Buckingham Mitchell, well known Chicago photographer, designed the new

photographic department at The Art Institute of Chicago. While serving as TechnicalAdviser in Charge of Research he has been carrying on research in color photography as

applied to art museum problems.Lamar Dodd is Regents' Professor and Head of the Department of Art, University

of Georgia. As an artist he is represented in the major American museums and privatecollections, has won many national awards and served on the regional jury for the Metro-

politanMuseum's recent exhibition "American

Painting Today."Winston Elting was born in Winnetka, Illinois and trained as an architect at Princeton

(Continued on page 260)




experiments.One can showthemwithoutendorsing hem asgreator beautiful,

so as to help the public studyand makeup its mind about them.

By exhibitingand helping to sell the artist's recentwork, the museumaids creativeness n the most practicalof ways. Its educationalwork, in

coursesand gallerytalks for personsof all ages, is devotedless to rhapsodic

praisethan in formeryears,and more to helpingpeople recognize he distinc-

tive features,values, and limitationsof eachexample-especially of the diffi-

cult,unfamiliarones,exoticandcontemporary.Studentscome to the museum to look, listen, sketch, and take notes;

seldomnow to makecomplete,exactcopies.They consultexhibitsand refer-

ence files there as an author uses a library:for materialto be freelyworked

over elsewhere.No doubt the art museumcan be of more use to American

artists,students,andartteachers n the future,by tryingmoreactively o meet

their needs.But up to the presenttheyhave not begunto makefull use of the

resourcest nowputsat theirdisposal.

CONTRIBUTORS:

(Continued rom page 256)

University, he Vcoledes BeauxArts,Paris;and the AmericanSchoolat Fontainebleau.

He hasbeen n privatepractice ince1936andthedesignerof MaryvilleCollegeFine ArtsCenter.

FrederickHard was for some years Professorof English and Dean of Newcomb

College, Tulane University.He has been Presidentof Scripps College, Claremont,California, ince 1944. He has held a ResearchFellowshipat the HuntingtonLibrary,sa memberof the Committee n Qualificationsf the Phi BetaKappaSenate,andone oftheeditorsof thePacificSpectator.

HenryKoernerwas born n Vienna,attendedViennaAcademy f FineArts,andservedwith the Armed Forcesduringand afterthe war. He won firstprizein the MuseumofModernArt's CancerPosterContest,andthe TempleAwardof Pennsylvania's cademyof Fine Arts in 1949.

CharlesRufusMorey s the distinguishedMarquand rofessor f Art andArchaeology,Emeritus, t PrincetonUniversity,andwas Attache or CulturalRelationsat the UnitedStatesEmbassyn Rome,1945-1950.

ThomasMunro is Curatorof Educationat the ClevelandMuseumof Art, Professorof Art at WesternReserveUniversity,and Editor of the Journalof Aestheticsand ArtCriticism.He is authorof The Arts and Their Interrelations.

BernardMyers,formerlyat New York Universityand recentlyGuest ProfessorofArtHistoryat the University f Texas, s the authorof ModernArt in theMaking.Undera BollingenFoundation ranthe has recentlycompleteda historyof GermanExpres-sionistpainting.

Mrs. ElizabethUssachevskys Associateon the Arts Program, n the InstituteofInternationalEducation'sDivision of SpecializedPersonnel.She is a graduateof the

Universityof Washington,has done graduatework at AmericanUniversity.She hasworked n the DisplacedPersonsDivision of the ChurchWorld Service,and has taughtat the PutneySchool n Vermont.


experiments.One can showthemwithoutendorsing hem asgreator beautiful,so as to help the public studyand makeup its mind about them.

By exhibiting and helping to sell the artist's recentwork, the museumaids creativeness n the most practicalof ways. Its educationalwork, in

coursesand gallerytalks for personsof all ages, is devotedless to rhapsodic

praisethan in formeryears,and more to helpingpeople recognize he distinc-

tive features,values,and limitationsof eachexample-especially of the diffi-

cult,unfamiliarones,exoticandcontemporary.Studentscome to the museum to look, listen, sketch, and take notes;

seldomnow to makecomplete,exactcopies.They consultexhibitsand refer-

ence files there as an author uses a library:for materialto be freelyworked

over elsewhere.No doubt the art museumcan be of more use to American

artists,students,andartteachersn the future,by tryingmoreactively o meet

their needs. But up to the presenttheyhave not begunto makefull use of the

resourcest nowputsat theirdisposal.

CONTRIBUTORS:

(Continued rom page 256)

University, he Vcoledes BeauxArts,Paris;and the AmericanSchool at Fontainebleau.

He hasbeen n privatepractice ince1936andthedesignerof MaryvilleCollegeFine ArtsCenter.

FrederickHard was for some years Professorof English and Dean of Newcomb

College, Tulane University.He has been Presidentof Scripps College, Claremont,California, ince 1944.He has held a ResearchFellowshipat the HuntingtonLibrary,sa memberof the Committee n Qualificationsf the Phi BetaKappaSenate,andone oftheeditorsof thePacificSpectator.

HenryKoernerwas born n Vienna,attendedViennaAcademy f FineArts,andservedwith the ArmedForcesduringand afterthe war. He won firstprizein the MuseumofModernArt's CancerPosterContest,andthe TempleAwardof Pennsylvania's cademyof Fine Artsin 1949.

CharlesRufusMorey s thedistinguishedMarquand rofessor f Art andArchaeology,Emeritus, t PrincetonUniversity,andwas Attache or CulturalRelationsat the UnitedStatesEmbassyn Rome,1945-1950.

ThomasMunro is Curatorof Educationat the ClevelandMuseumof Art, Professorof Art at WesternReserveUniversity,and Editor of the Journalof Aestheticsand ArtCriticism.He is authorof The Arts and TheirInterrelations.

BernardMyers,formerlyat New York Universityand recentlyGuest ProfessorofArtHistoryat the University f Texas, s theauthorof ModernArtin theMaking.Undera BollingenFoundationgranthe has recentlycompleteda historyof GermanExpres-sionistpainting.

Mrs. ElizabethUssachevskys Associateon the Arts Program, n the InstituteofInternationalEducation'sDivision of SpecializedPersonnel.She is a graduateof the

Universityof Washington,has done graduatework at AmericanUniversity.She hasworked n the DisplacedPersonsDivision of the ChurchWorld Service,and has taughtat the PutneySchool n Vermont.

Documents

Postwar Art in Germany