Tag: germany

Postcard from Paris, France: Purging art to ‘cleanse’ culture

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French stamp depicting a figure being restrained by two soldiers, symbolizing resistance.

Above: “The Pinch of Snuff (Rabbi),” Marc Chagall (1887-1985), mid-1920s

This painting, in which a rabbi sells his soul to Satan for a pinch of tobacco, was acquired by the Mannheim Kunsthalle in 1928. In 1933, Mannheim became the scene of an intense campaign of purge and defamation of modern art orchestrated by the Nazis…. the painting was dragged through the streets of the city with the message: ‘You who pay taxes should know where your money is being spent.'”

“‘Degenerate’ Art: Modern Art on Trial under the Nazis,” Curator Notes, Musee Picasso Paris, 2025

One evening at the end of May, we were fortunate to slip into a last remaining timeslot for viewing “‘Degenerate’ Art: Modern Art on Trial under the Nazis” at Musee Picasso Paris. It was packed with procrastinators, rendering the air-conditioning incapable of keeping the day’s lingering heat at bay. Yet, we all found ourselves crowding close to the artwork in an attempt to devour every word of the informative curator notes.

Most of the featured art had been included in a major exhibition of 600 works mounted by the Nazi regime in Munich in 1937. The purpose of this was not to shine light on exemplary art; instead, it was designed to condemn entartete kunst, or degenerate art, and the evil artists who spawned it.

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Postcard from Frankfurt, Germany: Belated greetings via Trockel’s art

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Above: “Living Means Learning to Appreciate Your Mother Nude,”* Rosemarie Trockel, photograph pasted onto a three-dimensional scene, 2001

A young woman lies on the floor absorbed in viewing a group of slides. She looks relaxed, her ankles are crossed, and she is wearing only underwear and a sweater. So domestic and secure does the scene seem, that catching sight of the woman like this seems strangely voyeuristic…. the photograph of the young woman seems to come alive in the mind’s eye…. one’s own life…is rooted in the sexuality of another human being.*

“Rosemarie Trockel,” Museum fur Moderne Kunst (MMK) catalogue for retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work from the 1970s through 2022

Happy Mother’s Day? (Or perhaps the title of the artwork above does not automatically qualify it as appropriate for the day?)

Wandering through Frankfurt’s modern art museum, MMK, I kept finding myself checking and checking the labels. Could these really all be created by the same artist? Yes.

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Postcard from Frankfurt, Germany: Impressions prior to following in Goethe’s path

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Above: Detail on Rathaus, City Hall, on Romerberg Plaza

Pristine. Perfect condition. How could ancient medieval buildings in the the historic center of Frankfurt am Main possibly look this good? Their appearance is particularly amazing in the midst of so many mid-century structures.

The answer lies in the tenacity of the people in this region. Below is how the plaza appeared following the arrival of Allied troops as World War II drew to its costly close.

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