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Introduction

Dreams and Nightmares

German Graphic Arts, 1900 - 1933
November 5, 2004 - January 23, 2005

"Life is a parody, a diabolical paraphrase, behind which there stands the truth, our dream… Art, you see, is nothing but the expression of our dream." Franz Marc, 1907
(Günter Meissner, ed., Franz Marc: Briefe, Schriften und Aufzeichnungen, 1989, p. 26; cited in Christian von Holst, Franz Marc, Horses. Cambridge (MA): 2000, pp. 48-49)

This exhibition highlights the visions-both dreams and nightmares-of two generations of artists who witnessed tumultuous political changes in Germany. The prosperity of the Wilhelmine Empire (1871-1918) was followed by the devastation of World War I (1914-1918), revolution in 1919, the establishment of the Weimar Republic, and the eventual collapse of this democracy with the seizure of power by the National Socialists (Nazis) in 1933.

Two artists' groups exemplify German art before the First World War: Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in Munich and Die Brücke (The Bridge) in Dresden. Die Brücke members sought a new harmony of life and art, taking their name from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's description of man as a "bridge." The metaphor has various interpretations, including man bridging different shores: past and future, body and spirit, degeneration and progress. Similarly, the members of Der Blaue Reiter, including Franz Marc and Paul Klee, sought a spiritual unity in art.

The nightmares of World War I and the economic inflation that haunted the Weimar Republic prompted different reactions from artists. Former soldiers George Grosz and Otto Dix attacked the hypocrisy of the society that had sent so many to their deaths. Max Beckmann saw the world as a stage on which he merely played a role. Käthe Kollwitz became ever more involved with her impassioned images of working-class poverty and suffering.

The rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists in 1933 dramatically altered the lives and careers of avant-garde artists, including George Grosz and Otto Dix. By 1933, the dream of artistic ferment was forcibly ended and the Nazi nightmare was beginning.

Selected Objects

Otto Dix

Landscape, 1933

George Grosz

Twilight (Dämmerung), 1919/1920
No Image Available

George Grosz

Man with Nude, 1933

Irene Bayer-Hecht

Grit Kalin, 1928

Max Beckmann, designer

Shooting Gallery, 1922

Otto Dix

Shot to Pieces (Zerschossene), 1924

Max Beckmann

Self-Portrait with Bowler Hat, 1921

Max Pechstein

Somali Dance (Somalitanz), 1910
No Image Available

Ella Bergmann-Michel

View Down into Street, ca. 1920-30

Erich Heckel

Am Strand (At the Beach), 1923

Max Beckmann

The Merry-Go-Round, 1922

Irene Bayer-Hecht

Grit Kalin, 1928

August Sander

Circus Artists, Düren (Zirkusartisten), 1930, printed later

Max Beckmann, designer

The Tightrope Walkers, 1922
No Image Available

Georg Trump

Untitled, 1928-1929

Käthe Kollwitz

Mothers II (Mütter), 1931

Franz Marc

Antilope (The Antelope), 1912

Käthe Kollwitz

Study for Unemployed; verso: Self-Portrait and Standing Woman, ca. 1910

Paul Klee

Recto: Columbarium of the Ochsenfrosch Family (Urnenstatte der Familie Ochsenfrosch), 1922

Paul Klee, designer

Verso: Untitled, ca. 1919-20

Lucia Moholy

Interior, ca. 1930

Käthe Kollwitz

Memorial for Karl Liebknecht, 1920
No Image Available

Georg Trump

Untitled, 1928-29

Max Beckmann

The Snake Charmer, 1922

Max Beckmann

The Barker, 1922

Max Beckmann

The Big Man, 1922

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Sailboat at Fehmarn (Segelboote Bei Fehmarn), 1914

Käthe Kollwitz

Mothers Protecting Their Children, 1918

Umbo

silver gelatin print, ca. 1930

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

Dreams and Nightmares : German Graphic Arts, 1900 - 1933

November 5, 2004 - January 23, 2005
View Checklist PDF

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