The Irony of the Nazi Party's Degenerate Art Exhibition

As Japan began its invasion of China in 1937, effectively launching WW2 in the East, the Nazis began its public condemnation of what they called "degenerate art." In July 1937, the Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibition (Entartete Kunst) opened in Munich, marking a significant event in the cultural history of Nazi Germany. What was this so-called degenerate art?

'Paris Society' by Max Beckmann, 1931. Beckmann was labelled a degenerate artist by the Nazi Party and he fled Germany in 1937 and lived in exile in Amsterdam.

Degenerate art was any art that deviated from Hitler's ideal of classical beauty. Essentially, that meant that all modern art was considered degenerate. The exhibition, which was intended to ridicule this art, included over 650 works from such renowned artists as Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann (above), Otto Dix (below), and Paul Klee. 

'Stormtroopers advancing under gas' by Otto Dix, published in 1924. Several of Dix's artworks about World War I were exhibited in the Nazi Party's Degenerate Art Exhibition. 

The purpose of the exhibition was twofold: (1) to incite public disdain for modern art and (2) to promote the Nazi vision of "true" German art, which emphasized traditional, classical—and rather boring—forms that glorified Aryan ideals. To emphasize their point, the so-called degenerate artworks were intentionally hung crooked, and derogatory graffiti and slogans were scrawled around the galleries mocking the art (see below).

Inside the Nazi Party's Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich, 1937.

Despite the exhibition's objective to denigrate modern art, the show ironically attracted over two million visitors, making it one of the most well-attended art exhibitions of the 20th century! 

Inside the Nazi Party's Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich, 1937.

The actual message conveyed by the exhibition: the Nazi regime's oppressive control over cultural expression and artistic freedom stifled one of society's greatest attributes—the creation of art. Today, the Degenerate Art Exhibition reminds me that art is powerful, so powerful authoritarian regimes will go to great lengths to manipulate it for their ideological purposes.

Pete Stein
Founder, Galerie Stein
Montreal

Galerie Stein will be presenting several contemporary abstract expressionist artists both virtually at GalerieStein.com and in our gallery in Montreal in 2024.
Contact: Pete Stein at peter@GalerieStein.com