Art Criticism - The State University of New York

Degeneration in World War II Germany
Kempton Mooney
The week of July 18th, 1937 saw the opening of two major exhibits in
Munich Germany. The first was the opening of The Great German Art Exhibition,
the inaugural exhibition of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst. The second
exhibition was Entartete "Kunst," The Degenerate Art Exhibition. The two
contrasting exhibitions, which faced each other on either sides of a public park,
were a lesson for the German public. The first exhibition showed what art was
acceptable, and in its presentation of idyllic nudes and victorious heroes it was
also meant to show the public what it should strive to be. Across the park, the
Degenerate Art exhibition was meant to show what was unacceptable. The
works were laid out in such a way as to provoke their audience to hate what it
saw. By giving Germany something to love and something to hate, the exhibitions
were to unify the German people. They exemplify Adolf Hitler's use of art
to rally support, to instruct the German people on who to be, and to fuel their
hatred against those he created as enemies. However, the exhibitions were not
solely propaganda, as Hitler genuinely sought to purify Germany of what he
considered to be destructive forces. He saw modern art as a decline indicative
of society's decline, and he wished to stop this decline by forcing art to adhere
to what he perceived as principles it had contained at its zenith. I intend to
explore the development of Nazi art policy to show that the methods Hitler
used to remove the degenerate elements in German culture, instead of being a
cure, only further confirmed the decadence of their cultural position.
Before World War I, the German art world was in tune with the avantgarde.
It supported the avant-garde through the 1920's with important exhibitions
so that when Alfred Barr of New York's Museum of Modem Art visited in
1931, he was amazed at the innovative contemporary works already on display
in Germany's museums.' The Nationalgalerie in Berlin had the most representative
collection of contemporary art, though many local museums also showed
works by German Expressionists. However, while there was an encouraging
atmosphere for contemporary artists, there was also an opposition present. As
early as 1914, there were passionate debates between conservatives and modern
artists. In Prussia, these became political enough that the Parliament passed
a resolution against the degeneration of art, though the resolution was little
enforced as the question of degenerate art remained in the realm of opinion.2
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