War, Tradition and Modernism

1. War, Tradition and Modernism History of Germany Lecture 7

2. Schedule • Introduction • The soldiers return from the war • The meaning of the Great War • War and modernism • New objectivity • Conclusion

3. Schedule • Introduction • The soldiers return from the war • The meaning of the Great War • War and modernism • New objectivity • Conclusion

4. Freikorps (free corps) • Paramilitary organizations of demobilised soldiers and officers 1918-1920 • Many soldiers felt disconnected from civilian life and joined Freikorps in search of stability provided by a military structure • Fought in the Baltics against Red Army, in Silesia against Polish insurgents • Helped to put down communist uprisings • Participated in Kapp putsch 1920 • Some Freikorps members committed political assassinations (Erzberger, Rathenau – seen as ‘November traitors’) • Some joined Nazi party

5. Organisations of front line soldiers • Roter Frontkämpferbund (Red Fighter League, 1924) – communist (1927: 111,000 members) • Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold (1923) – democratic, social-democratic (1932: ca 3 million members) • Stahlhelm. Bund der Frontsoldaten (steel helmet. League of Frontline Soldiers) founded 1918 by Franz Seldte – antidemocratic, nationalistic, close to DNVP (1930: 500,000 members)

6. Stahlhelm decoration 1925 Was will der Stahlhelm?Propaganda poster of the Stahlhelm

7. Schedule • Introduction • The soldiers return from the war • The meaning of the Great War • War and modernism • New objectivity • Conclusion

8. Different opinions • Moderate left and democrats: old elites and authoritarian politicians of the old empire responsible for war and defeat – more democracy necessary • Communists: capitalism and ruling class responsible – socialist revolution • Right wing nationalists: November revolution, social-democrats, communists, pacifists, Jews to blame for defeat – authoritarian government based on support of Volksgemeinschaft (national community) is necessary to make Germany strong again

10. Hindenburg’s coffin is carried into the central courtyard of the monument

11. War memorials

12. Schedule • Introduction • The soldiers return from the war • The meaning of the Great War • War and modernism • New objectivity • Conclusion

13. Modernism A break from the past and a search for new expression. A faith in new technology and aesthetics to solve problems of society.

14. Expressionism Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an emotional effect; it is a subjective art form Art movement very influential in Germany since the turn of the century (Die Brücke, der Blaue Reiter) Vassily Kandinsky, Der blaue Reiter

15. Otto Dix, Flanders (illustration for the novel “The Fire" by Henri Barbusse), 1934-36

16. Otto Dix, Gesehen am Steilhang von Cléry-sur-Somme (“As seen on the steep slope of Cléry-sur-Somme”) 1924

17. Otto Dix, Triptychon “The War”, 1929-32

19. “Armament is necessary” John Heartfield 1932

21. Käthe Kollwitz, Pietà, 1937

22. Dada • Dada was first and foremost a response to the madness of war. • To the Dadaists, progress (including reason and logic) had led to the disaster of world war. • They believed that the only way forward was through political anarchy, the natural emotions, the intuitive and the irrational.

23. The Futurists believed that mechanization, revolution, and war were rational and logical means to the solution of human problems. • The Dada movement was the exact opposite in philosophy from the Futurists. Gino Severini. (Italian, 1883-1966). Visual Synthesis of the Idea: "War". 1914. Oil on canvas,

24. The origins of the term Dada are not known…it can mean a child’s rocking horse…dada means in German in baby language to go out, in French it means “an event or obsession.” • Whatever its origin, it is the central mocking symbol of the attack on established movements that characterized early 20th century art.

25. Dada was a search for new vision and content that went beyond any frivolous desire to outrage the bourgeoisie • It affected art, literature, music and theatre… it was the voice of the fantastic and absurd! • Dada’s serious purpose: the critical reexamination of traditions, premises, rules, logical basic concepts, even of the concepts of order, coherence and beauty.

28. George Grosz. Germany: a Winter's Tale. 1917/19. Oil on canvas. Whereabouts unknown.

29. What a b what a b what a beauty What a b what a b what a beautyWhat a b what a b what a aWhat a beauty beauty beWhat a beauty beauty beWhat a beauty beauty beauty be be beWhat a be what a b what a beautyWhat a b what a b what a aWhat a be be be be beWhat a be be be be beWhat a be be be be be be be a beauty be be beWhat a beauty. Kurt Schwitters

30. Kurt Schwitters, Ursonate, 3rd part: Scherzo (extract) Lanke trr gll    pe pe pe pe pe             Ooka ooka ooka ooka Lanke trr gll        pii pii pii pii pii             züüka züüka züüka züükaIII Lanke trr gll        Rrmm        RrnnfIII Lanke trr gll         Ziiuu lenn trll?         Lümpff tümpff trllIII Lanke trr gll         Rrumpff tilff tooIII Lanke trr gll        Ziiuu lenn trll?        Lümpff tümpff trllIII  Lanke trr gll  KS by El Lissitsky 1924

31. Oskar Maria Graf

32. Russian influence before the revolution Vassily Kandinsky

33. Kasimir Malevich, The Black Square

34. Soviet Influence Vladimir Tatlin: Model of the Monument to the Third International

35. Wedding dish 1924 1923 Kasimir Malevich

36. Schedule • Introduction • The soldiers return from the war • The meaning of the Great War • War and modernism • New objectivity • Conclusion

37. Die neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) • Outgrowth of and in opposition to expressionism • Art movement in Germany in the 1920s (architecture, visual arts, music) • “What we are displaying here is distinguished by the – in itself purely external – characteristics of the objectivity with which the artists express themselves” (Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, 1923) • Rejection of sentimentality and emotional agitation of expressionism • Functional, matter-of-fact approach to construction – Neues Bauen (New Building)

39. Ornament is a waste of the energy of labour, and therefore a waste of health…Today it also means squandered material and squandered capital…The modern person, the person with modern nerves, does not need ornament, on the contrary, he detests it. - Adolf Loos Ornament and Crime 1908

40. Form follows function The American sculptor Horatio Greenough, popularised by the American architect Louis Henri Sullivan

41. Less is more. - Mies van der Rohe Architects and designers approached design by methods that reduced all unnecessary elements.

42. It is agreed, we refuse to duplicate handmade works, historical style forms, and other materials for production. - Peter Behrens, 1907 Rejection of historical and handmade artefacts – they are to be replaced by new technologies and materials.

43. The Bauhaus • very influential concept of art in the 20th c.: • Established standards of excellence and workmanship • Created products for mass production • Chief aesthetic principle was to simplify the design of all objects • The modernist palette tended to emphasize white and grey accented with black or primary colours • Ornamentation had to be integral to the materials of construction • Made use of the latest technologies • Stressed lightness and transparency • Art and technology were fused in an effort to improve overall quality of design

44. The Famous Designers • Walter Gropius – Architect and founder of the architectural program • Mies van der Rohe – Architect and furniture designer • Marcel Breuer – Designer of “machine-age furniture”

45. Walter Gropius • 1919 - 1928 director of the Bauhaus • His aim was to bring together all creative efforts into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art — painting, sculpture, handicrafts and the crafts. There should be no distinction between monumental and decorative art. • He believed that the student must know the crafts — each student had to work in the workshop to familiarise themselves with materials and construction in order to learn how to design properly.

46. Marcel Breuer • Designed tubular steel Wassily chair inspired by bicycle handles • The chair was designed for his artist friend Wassily Kandinsky

47. Mies van der Rohe • Designed the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain • Used the open plan inspired by Wright • Ornamentation was only through the textures of natural materials • Combines marble floors, polished steel columns, screen walls of glass and polished marble

49. The Weissenhof Estate, Stuttgart 1927

50. Schedule • Introduction • The soldiers return from the war • The meaning of the Great War • War and modernism • New objectivity • Conclusion