Portland Public Library

Modern masters, "degenerate" art at the Kunstmuseum Bern, edited by Matthias Frehner and Daniel Spanke

eng

Includes bibliographical references

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Modern masters

catalogsbibliography

957457956

edited by Matthias Frehner and Daniel Spanke

"degenerate" art at the Kunstmuseum Bern

Kunstmuseum Bern, the oldest museum in Switzerland, turns its gaze toward its own acquisition history in this lavish book that features artistic masterpieces considered worthless by the Nazis, and the stories of how they came to Switzerland. As a result of the Nazi regime's scorn for modern art, virtually all non-traditional art between 1933 and 1945 was banned in Germany on the grounds that it was un-German, Jewish, or Communist in nature. Those identified as "degenerate" artists were dismissed from teaching positions and forbidden to exhibit or to sell their works. This book sheds light on the historical significance and provenance of nearly 525 works by modernist greats, such as Picasso, Chagall, and Kandinsky, which were acquired by the Kunstmuseum Bern through a combination of auctions and private donations. The book traces the fates of artists who suffered under the Nazi regime and who had connections to Switzerland, including Kirchner, Klee and Dix, and contrasts the cultural policies of the Third Reich with those of Switzerland in the same period. Finally, it details the dramatic events and unprecedented efforts that went into preserving invaluable works of art

Essays: Modern Masters -- "Degenerate" Art: Basic Principles and Terms: Auction "Paintings and Sculptures by Modern Masters from German Museums"; Bergier Report; "Degenerate" Art; Flight Assets (Fluchtgut); "German" Art; Looted-Art (Beutekunst); Nazi-Looted Art (NS-Raubkunst); Possession and Property; Provenance and Provenance Research Restitution; "Spiritual National Defense"; The "Third Reich" and the "Nazi Seizure of Power"; The Washington Principles of 1998 and the Terezin -- Declaration of 2009; From the Rűtli of Swiss Art to International Openness: The Kunstmuseum Bern 1933 to 1945 / Matthias Frehner -- How the Kunstmuseum Bern Acquired Its Modern Masters: The Exhibitions, Acquisitions, and Donations of the Max Huggler Era / Esther Tisa Francini -- Outlawed: The Fate of "Degenerate" Art after Confiscation from German Museums During the Nazi Regime / Meike Hoffmann -- Provenance Research on the 1913 Painting Dünen und Meer by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner / Meike Hoffmann -- Museums' Collections in a Sate of Change / Andreas Hüneke -- "The Psychiatrist Should Come for Him": The Pathologization of Art and Artists as Antimodern Strategy / Bettina Brand-Clauseen -- Swissness Under Multiple Threat: On Reactions to the Geistige Landesverteidigung / Georg Kreis -- Just People? Figural Sculpture in the Interwar Period and Its Political Aspect / Franz Müller -- Ostracized Artists: Ostracized Artists in Germany and Switzerland: Paul Klee, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix, Johannnes Itten -- Paul Klee: "Penitent on Show" -- A refugee Artist from Germany -- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Haunted in the Swiss Mountains / Claudia Blank -- Otto Dix: At the Very Edge of the Reich/ Daniel Spanke -- Johannnes Itten: Tellenwacht (1938-1947) -- Political Iconography and Painted Commitment to "Spiritual National Defence" -- List of Works: Introductory Remark / Simon Oberholzer -- List of Works: Modern masters in the Kunstmuseum Bern / Simon Oberholzer and Fabia Hiltbrunner

"Degenerate" art at the Kunstmuseum Bern