Early-Modern Period Art

To begin this post, I want to say it was difficult to keep to one focus on just one topic since there was much going on in the booming art world. In the end I decided to settle for the effects of WWI and the political situation of the time including the depression.

Opening of the Entartete Kunst exhibition at the Schulausstellungsgebaude, Hamburg, 1938

During many historical events, with the movement and shift of power also came the constant attempt to erase and warp cultures to the concurs liking. A large part of this is the defacing and destruction of art from that civilization.When the Natzi’s began to overtake Germany, it was no different.

Entartete Kunst went a step further and made a display of the art, but warped the art the National Socialist Party had rejected making slander of the art and loosing the meaning before destroying it. It was a smart tact to get public support for Nazism as for if you warp the communities minds to naturally already hate a culture, idea, or lifestyle without outright telling them it is bad it is far easier to control them. This was the same for art.

Adolf Hitler and Adolf Ziegler visit the Degenerate Art Exhibition, 1937. The wall behind them calls attention to the works of the Dada artists with depreciatory comments

The Degenerate Art exhibition held in 1937 consisted of 650 modernist artworks that where hung haphazardly and labeled deriding the pieces into cramped rooms never intended for art exhibition. It did well turning the public opinion against modernism, and with such a turn out it traveled through cities in Germany and Austria. At this time Modern styles of art where prohibited and only Natzi approved paintings and sculptures where acceptable to have.

Hitler approved of more traditional forms of art and as a dictator he regulated art in one of the harshest laws never had seen before in Germany. He himself before becoming a politician was an artist, and it carried through his rule.He selected a more classical Greek and Roman style art, seeing it as “Greek and Roman art as uncontaminated by Jewish influences. . .(Hitler) took upon himself the responsibility of deciding who, in the matters of culture, thought and acted like a Jew” Grosshans 1983, p.86.

One of the artists shamed in this display is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Born in Aschaffenburg, Germany to Prussian parents. His father became a professor at the College of Technology in Chemnitz, where later Kirchner attended. His parents where supportive of his artistic career, but also encouraged his education which had his begin studying architecture at the Royal Technical University of Dresden in 1901.

Photographic self-portrait 1919
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

In 1905 Kirchner and his good friend from school Fritz Bleyl and two other architecture students founded the artistic group Die Brucke( “The Bridge”) which sealed Kirchners commitment to art. The groups attempt was to set aside the traditional academic style of art and find a new mode of expression, which would “bridge” the past and present together.

A short mention I wish to have was for Kirchmans good friend, Fritz Bleyl- or Hilmar Friedrich Wilhelm Bleyl. He was one of the artists that founded Die Brucke and designed the graphics for the group, one of his most famous being a poster for the show that was banned by the police. I mention him now, due to his very short lived life with the group and publicly with art. After 2 years he left and chose to dedicate his life to his wife and children, and taught as a professor for architecture.

Poster by Fritz Bleyl to promote the first Die Brücke show in 1906. It was banned by the police.

The style of art this group chose held erratic colors and “primitive” aesthetics inspired by African and European medieval art. Their works showcased urban themes of social alienation and anxiety, and much of it was chalk full of sexually engrossed themes with many nude females. This group had a major impact on arts evolution in the 20th century and created the style of expressionism.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Reclining Nude in Front of Mirror, 1909-1910, oil on canvas, 83.3 x 95.5 cm (Brücke-Museum, Berlin)

This is one of Ernest paintings, and it is full of vibrant colors and almost harsh brushstrokes that pull your attention to the painting. This Expressionism painting was one that would not be approved of by Hitler, but was displayed at Kirchners museum in Berlin.

Five women on the street (Fünf Frauen auf der Straße)
1915, oil on canvas, 126 × 90 cm ^[3] It is the first painting of the cycle and shows five prostitutes standing on the path walk.

The group was short lived, only spanning from their opening in 1906-1913 following the writing of Chronik der Brucke (Brucke Chronicle) which lead to the ending of the group. This lead to him having an individual identity and his first solo exhibition at the Essen Folkwang Museum which encouraged him to paint his series “Street Scenes” which showcased the streets of Berlin. Above pictured was one of the first, and even though it held some of the same strong brushstrokes, it lacked the colors that was part of his style, but the darkness I think reflects the subjects and time, as for the women are prostitutes.

This is one of many works of art of Kirchners that was confiscated and brought to the “Degenerated Art” program and displayed at Entartete Kunst  exhibit. After its poor display in the mock art exhibit it was stored in Schonhausen Palace as something that could only be sold internationally, as for it was not worthy of German art.

Berlin street scene (Berliner Straßenszene) 
1913/1914, oil on canvas, 121 × 95 cm ^[4]

This painting had quite the trip and gained popularity in 2006 when it was disputed on its restitution. But in 2006 its journey ended with it being returned to heirs of Hess in accordance to the “Washington declaration” which said all art that was stolen from Jewish families during the Nazi era should be returned.

The street (Die Straße) 
1913, oil on canvas, 120,6 × 91,1 cm ^[6]

This painting was another that had been confiscated by the Natzi’s and stored in Schonhausen until 1938 where it was sold to the New York Museum of Modern Art.

When the first World War began in 1914 Kirchner volunteered for the military. In July of the following year he was sent to train as a driver for the reserve unit for 75th Mansfeld Field Artillery Regiment. Shortly after Kirchners riding instructor arranged for his discharge after a mental breakdown.

Returning to Berlin he continued to work producing many paintings, one of the most famous being ‘Self-Portrait as a Soldier (1915)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, Aschaffenburg 1880 – 1938 Davos)
Self-Portrait as a Soldier, 1915
Signed lower right: E. L. Kirchner
Oil on canvas

December of that year he was admitted to Dr.Kohnstamm’s sanatorium in Konigstein in Taunus, where he was diagnosed with dependency on Veronal-a barbiturate- and alcoholism. He would stay here for a time to attempt to ease his trouble mind, and would visit Berlin periodically. He did a series of oil paintings and many drawings during his stay. In October of 1916 he sold many works after an exhibition of his work at Ludwig Schames in Frankfurt and he began to financially succeed, but come that December he suffered from a nervous breakdown and was admitted to Dr. Edel’s sanatorium in Berlin.

For the years following he continued to paint and create wonderful works of art, but suffered from sometimes paralyzing and painful depression. In 1938 he became upset by the situation with Germany, and after Austria was annexed into Natzi Germany Kirchner became upset by the idea Germany may invade Switzerland. On June 15 1938 Kirchner took his own life by gunshot in front of his home in Frauenkirch.

Violett House in Front of a Snowy Mountain, 1938

The next artist I would like to bring light to that was large during the WWI period was Jacob Epstein, whom was a sculpture.

He was American born, son of a Polish/Jewish immigrant parents who ran a successful business in New York. As a child he was frequently ill will pleurisy, which I imagine kept him bedridden and short of breath. In 1902 he moved to Paris to study at the city’s famed art school. During a trip in 1905 to a British museum in London, he was moved by the large display of parts of art from around the world and so he settled in Britain. In 1911 he became a British citizen and in 1954 he was knighted.

Briefly he served in the 38th Battalion of Royal Fusillers, known as the Jewish Legion during WWI before experiencing a mental breakdown and was discharged in 1918.

He worked most of his career in solitude, only briefly before the first world war he word with other young sculptures with the same shared love of non-European art. Together they worked to bring back a British tradition of sculpture, correcting what they saw as its weakness. They focused on direct carving in which the sculptor works out ideas directly to the stone instead of copying a clay model.

In its original form, Sir Jacob Epstein’s The Rock Drill 1913–15 Birmingham City Art Gallery
© the estate of Jacob Epstein

From 1913 to 1915 Epstein made on of his most famous works, the Rock Drill, which was part of the short lived Vorticism movement. The following year he dismantled it and made a hacked version as seen below. This seems to be a form of aggression he shows with his sculptures, and it is noted that when he did this it was at the time of the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun, and could be his way of expressing his thoughts at the time.

Torso in Metal from ‘The Rock Drill’ 1913-14 Sir Jacob Epstein 1880-1959 Purchased 1960 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T00340

During the 1930s and ranging to around 1950 many works by Epstein where displayed in Blackpool.

Adam’ being transported from London to Blackpool, 1939.
image courtesy the Local and Family History Centre, Blackpool Central Library

The most spoken about and popular of these was his work “Adam” which was carved between 1938 and 1939 from a single block of alabaster. It had been toured around as a ‘freak object’ and was a subject of a lot of controversial talk. His own agents where even weary of displaying the piece, as for it would be such a controversial work of art. It stands in Blackpool, having been moved from stables, to the Entrance Hall, which had been reinforced to manage the extreme weight load of the piece.

Collections: Contemporary CollectionSculpture
By: Sir Jacob Epstein
Date: 1938
Medium: Alabaster
Location: Entrance Hall

Epstein died in August of 1959, but to this day his art is still displayed all over the world renowned for its influence on the younger generation of sculptors-such as Henry Moore.

Lastly is Dorothea Lange, born May of 1895. She was a documentary photographer and photo journalist who brought an image to the Depression era humanizing the consequences of the Great Depression.

Lange in 1936

At age 7 Dorothea contracted polio which left her with a noticeably weaker right leg and foot. Despite this she said that the illness was part of what formed and guided her and helped her grow into the woman she would later become.

In 1913 she attended the New York Training School for Teachers. She wasn’t much interested in academics so pursued photography as a profession. By 1918 she began to run a successful portrait studio.

Dorothea Lange, Toll of Uncertainty Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children

One of her most famous photos, and one that is toted as one of the most influential images of all time is from the Great Depression, of a mother of 7 starving children.

Looking at this photograph, especially as a mother of 2 of my own, I can see the struggle this mother has. The pain and worry she bares for all of her little ones, as they hold onto her for support. I think having the two older children’s faces turned away is powerful, because it makes it easier for other parents to envision their own children hanging off of them in such need and want.

White Angel Bread Line, San Francisco. 1933. Dorothea Lange. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. Gift of Paul S. Taylor.

pictured above is White Angel Bread Line. It shows the breadline at a soup kitchen in San Francisco, CA during the Depression era. Lois Jordan, a wealthy widow living in San Francisco, known as White Angel, made a soup kitchen to feed the hungry, and with little to no outside funding fed more than 1 million hungry men over 3 years. Photos like these are a crucial message of not only the results of human suffering, but also human kindness and group support.

It would be during the Great Depression that Dorothea Lange would find the most of her career support and ease, as for later with her strive to show humanity in all that it was should would find more against what she did. With the Dust Bowl and Great Depression she found support among the nay sayers- many did not and still do not want to see the darker side of society. But she pushed on and continued to show it in all that it was, good and bad.

With all these artists they all had major hindrances to their careers, and many people rejected their art. But they all perused what they felt was right and expressed themselves in the way they could best- with art.

Citation:

• “Street Scenes.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_scenes.
• “Expressionist Art.” Kirchner_SelfPortrait, www2.oberlin.edu/amam/Kirchner_SelfPortrait.htm.
• “Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner.
  
• “Fritz Bleyl.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Feb. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Bleyl.
• Guggenheim, http://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/ernst-ludwig-kirchner.
• “Art in Nazi Germany.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/art-in-nazi-germany/.
• “Adam.” Harewood House, harewood.org/explore/art/artwork/epsteins-adam/.
• Grundy Art Gallery, http://www.grundyartgallery.com/programme/past/2010/52/.
• “The Story of Jacob Epstein’s ‘Rock Drill’.” Tate, http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/blogs/story-jacob-epsteins-rock-drill.
• Tate. “’Marx on the Wall’: Muralism and Anglo-American Exchange during the 1930s – Tate Papers.” Tate, http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/27/muralism-and-anglo-american-exchange.
• “Jacob Epstein.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Epstein.
• A&A | Jacob Epstein: Sculptor in Revolt: Sculptor in Revolt, http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/insight/brockington_epstein/brockington_epstein01.html.
• “Dorothea Lange.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange.
• Depression Era: 1930s: Depression.” White Angel Bread Line, San Francisco | Picture This, picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/white-angel-bread-line-san-francisco.
• Toll of Uncertainty.” The Grapes of Wrath, scalar.usc.edu/works/grapes-of-wrath-digital-companion/media/toll-of-uncertainty-1.
• “Dorothea Lange | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, http://www.moma.org/artists/3373.