Book

German expressionism : documents from the end of the Wilhelmine Empire to the rise of national socialism / edited and annotated by Rose-Carol Washton Long with the assistance of Ida Katherine Rigby and contributions by Stephanie Barron, Rosemarie Haag Bletter, and Peter Chametzky ; translations from the German edited by Nancy Roth.

New York : G.K. Hall ; Toronto : Maxwell Macmillan Canada ; New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, ©1993.

xxiv, 349 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

German Expressionism, one of the most significant movements of early European modernism, was an enormously powerful element in Germany's cultural life, stretching from the end of the Wilhelmine Empire to the rise of Hitler's Third Reich. While the movement embraced such diverse artists as E.L. Kirchner, Wassily Kandinsky, Kathe Kollwitz, and George Grosz, all the participants shared an almost messianic belief in the power of art to change society. Once hailed as modern and experimental, utopian and international, and anarchic and socialist, Expressionism later became characterized instead as apolitical, romantic, subjective, and wildly irrational. After the Second World War, art historians, disillusioned by the earlier ideological battles, tended to emphasize Expressionism only for its aesthetic viability. Recently, however, the parameters of Expressionism have undergone reevaluation and significant questions about the relationship of Expressionism in the visual arts to Germany's political and cultural history have been raised. But many of the basic documents have either not been translated into English or appear in editions no longer in print. Other important documents exist only in archives neither published nor catalogued and have therefore never been accessible to an interested public. Rose-Carol Washton Long has drawn together over eighty documents crucial to the understanding of German Expressionism, many of them translated for the first time into English. These documents, gathered from contemporaneous exhibition catalogues, group manifestos, letters, diaries, reviews, and critiques, help to explain Expressionism's power and presence in Germany's cultural life. Annotations prepared by Washton Long with the assistance of Ida K. Rigby, Stephanie Barron, Rose-Marie Bletter, and Peter Chametzky should provide a stimulus and guide for further study. Organized into four parts, the book begins by focusing on the reception of Expressionism before the First World War and includes essays by Wilhelm Worringer and Herwarth Walden. The second part, with essays by Rosa Schapire and Bruno Taut, concentrates on the spread of Expressionistic concepts from painting into the other visual arts. The third, with letters by Walter Gropius and Otto Dix, reflects the involvement of Expressionists with the extraordinary political, social, and economic events of this period. And the fourth part, drawing from material written by critics such as G.E Hartlaub and Georg Lukacs, testifies to the continuing impact of Expressionism upon Dada artists, Bauhaus educators, Neue Sachlichkeit definers, and political activists. This volume of documents superbly supplements and enhances the recent reinterpretations of German Expressionism by providing not only the dominant voices but also the paradoxical and contradictory tones that lie within any movement.

The Documents of twentieth century art

Documents of 20th century art.

Expressionism (Art) -- Germany -- Sources.

Art, German -- 20th century -- Sources.

Long, Rose-Carol Washton.

Rigby, Ida Katherine.

Barron, Stephanie, 1950-

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Early Manifestations. First Identifiers. Carl Vinnen, "Quonsque Tandem," from A Protest of German Artists, 1911. Wilhelm Worringer, "The Historical Development of Modern Art," The Struggle for Art: The Answer to the "Protest of German Artists," 1911. Paul Ferdinand Schmidt, "The Expressionists," Der Sturm, 1912. Richart Reiche, "Foreword," International Exhibition of the Sonderbund, Cologne, 1912. Max Deri, "Cubists and Expressionism," Pan, 1912. The Brucke. E. L. Kirchner: program of the artist group, Brucke, 1906; "Chronicle of the Brucke," 1913; letter to Erich Heckel and Max Pechstein, March 31, 1910; letters to Gustav Schiefler, June 27, 1911 and March 16, 1913. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, postcard to Cuno Amiet, January 8, 1909, and letter to Gustav Schiefler, ca. 1913. Erich Heckel letters to Franz Marc, Spring 1912 to Winter 1912/13. Max Pechstein (transcribed by W. Heymann), "What Is Picasso Up To?", Pan, 1912. Neue Kunstler Vereinigung Munchen and the Blaue Reiter. Wassily Kandinsky, "Foreword," Neue Kunstler Vereinigung exhibition catalogue, 1909-10, and untitled essay, The Struggle for Art: The Answer to the "Protest of German Artists", 1911. Kubin-Kandinsky letters, May 5, 1910, and August 13, 1911. Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, preface (not printed), ca. October 1911, for the Blaue Reiter almanac; and Franz Marc, subscription prospectus, January 1912, for the Blaue Reiter almanac. Franz Marc letter to Reinhard Piper, April 20, 1910, and to Wassily Kandinsky, October 5, 1912. Paul Klee, "Exhibition of the Modern League in the Zurich Kunsthaus," Die Alpen, 1912. Der Sturm. Herwarth Walden, "Introduction," First German Autumn Salon, 1913, and letter from August Macke, April 21, 1913.

Adolf Behne, "German Expressionists, Lecture for the Opening of the New Sturm Exhibition," Der Sturm, 1914. [Rudolf Blumner], from Der Sturm: An Introduction, 1917 -- The Expansion of Expressionism. German Criticism through World War 1. Ludwig Rubiner, "Painters Build Barricades," Die Aktion, 1914. Paul Fechter, from Der Expressionismus, 1914. Theodor Daubler, "Expressionism," Der Neue Standpunkt, 1916. Hermann Bahr, from Expressionismus, 1916. G. F. Hartlaub, "Art and the New Gnosis," Das Kunstblatt, 1917. Painting. Essays by Franz Marc and Max Beckmann in Pan, 1912. Ludwig Meidner, "An Introduction to Painting the Metropolis," Kunst und Kunstler, 1914. Johannes Molzahn, "The Manifesto of Absolute Expressionism," Der Sturm, 1919. Sculpture / Stephanie Barron. Ernst Barlach, excerpts from letters and diary, 1911-15. Carl Einstein, from Negerplastik, 1915. [Rudolf Blumner], "Expressionist Sculpture," 1917, and Oswald Herzog, "Abstract Expressionism," Der Sturm, 1919. L. de Marsalle [E. L. Kirchner], "On the Sculpture of E. L. Kirchner," Der Cicerone, 1925. Expressionist Architecture / Rosemarie Haag Bletter. Bruno Taut, "A Necessity," Der Sturm, 1914. Paul Scheerbart, from Glass Architecture, 1914. Bruno Taut, from Alpine Architecture, 1919. Erich Mendelsohn, letter to Luise Mendelsohn, August 26, 1917, and extract from Arbeitsrat lecture, "The Problem of a New Architecture," 1919. From the Glass Chain letters: Bruno Taut, November 24, 1919; Paul Goesch, May 1920; Wenzil Hablik, July 22, 1920. Printmaking / Ida Katherine Rigby. Gustav Hartlaub, from The New German Print, 1920. L. de Marsalle (E. L. Kirchner], "On Kirchner's Prints," Genius, 1921. Paul Westheim, "Kokoschka's Prints," Das graphische Jahrbuch. Rosa Schapire, "Schmidt-Rottluff's Religious Woodcuts," Die Rote Erde, 1919. Paul F. Schmidt, "Max Beckmann's Hell," Der Cicerone, 1920 -- War, Revolution, and Expressionism. The War Experience / Ida Katherine Rigby. Franz Marc, letters from the front, 1914-15. Kathe Kollwitz, letter and diary entries, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1922. Conrad Felixmuller, "Military Hospital Orderly Felixmuller," Menschen, 1918. Ludwig Meidner, "Hymn of Brotherly Love," from September -- Cry, 1920. Critics, Artists and the Revolution / Ida Katherine Rigby. Ludwig Meidner, "To All Artists, Musicians, Poets," Das Kunstblatt, 1919. Herbert Kuhn, "Expressionism and Socialism," Neue Blatter fur Kunst und Dichtung, 1919. Kurt Eisner, "The Socialist Nation and the Artist," An alle Kunstler!, 1919. Georg Tappert, letter to Franz Pfemfert, November 23, 1918. Editorial, Menschen, 1919. Kathe Kollwitz, diary entries, 1918, 1919, 1920.

Hans Friedeberger, "The Artists' Posters of the Revolutionary Days," Das Plakat, 1919. Arbeitsrat fur Kunst. [Bruno Taut], Arbeitsrat fur Kunst program, 1918 and Bruno Taut, from An Architecture Program, 1919. Walter Gropius, "Architecture in a Free Republic," 1919; letters, to Dr. Walter Rathenau, February 23, 1919, to Ludwig Meidner, February 26, 1919; speech to the membership meeting of the Arbeitsrat, March 22, 1919. Adolf Behne: "Unknown Architects," Sozialistische Monatshefte, 1919; "General Announcement" from the flyer for the periodical Bauen, 1919. Questions from YES! Voices of the Arbeitsrat fur Kunst, and excerpts from the responses of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Georg Tappert, 1919. Novembergruppe / Ida Katherine Rigby. Draft of the manifesto of the Novembergruppe, 1918; circular letter, 1918; guidelines, 1919. Max Pechstein, "What We Want," An alle Kunstler!, 1919. Peter Leu, Guide to the Novembergruppe Art Exhibition, 1920. "Open Letter to the Novembergruppe," 1920-21. Dresden Secession Gruppe 1919 / Peter Chametzky. "Regulations," Dresden Secession, 1919 and statement of purpose, 1919. Hugo Zehder, "The Journal 1919 Neue Blatter fur Kunst und Dichtung," and [Hugo Zehder?] and D. P. Sterenberg, "A Call from Russian Artists," 1919. Walter Rheiner, statement of purpose for the journal Menschen, 1918, and "The New World," Sezession Gruppe 1919, 1919. Conrad FelixmuIler, "To Art," Die Schone Raritat, 1918. Otto Dix, letter to Kurt Gunther, ca. 1919. Will Grohmann, "Prints of 'Gruppe 1919' Dresden," Menschen, 1919 -- Reactions to Expressionism. The Weimar Bauhaus. Walter Gropius, Bauhaus Program, 1919; speech to Bauhaus students, July 1919; [Anonymous], Bauhaus fund solicitation pamphlet, 1921. [Anonymous], "The State Bauhaus in Weimar," supplement to the Thuringer Tageszeitung, 1920. Johannes Itten, "Analyses of Old Masters," Utopia: Documents of Reality, 1921. Oskar Schlemmer, letter to Otto Meyer, December 7, 1921; manifesto in the publicity pamphlet for the first Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar, 1923. Dada. Hugo Ball, "Kandinsky," lecture, April 7, 1917. Richard Huelsenbeck, "Dada Manifesto" [1918], Dada Almanach, 1920.

Raoul Hausmann, "The German PHILISTINE is Annoyed," Der Dada, December 1919. Wieland Herzfelde, "Introduction," First International Dada Fair, 1920. George Grosz, "My New Pictures," Das Kunstblatt, 1921. Kurt Schwitters, "Merz-Painting," Der Zweemann, 1919. The Critics and the "Demise" of Expressionism. Wilhelm Hausenstein, "Art of this Moment," Der Neue Merkur, 1919. Wilhelm Worringer, from Current Questions on Art, 1921. Iwan Goll, "Expressionism Is Dying," Zenit 1921. G. F. Hartlaub, preface to catalogue of Neue Sachlichkeit exhibition, Mannheim, 1925. Franz Roh, from Post-Expressionism, Magic Realism: Problems of Recent European Painting, 1925. Expressionism and the Third Reich / Ida Katherine Rigby. Kathe Kollwitz, excerpts from diaries and letters, 1933. Paul Schultze-Naumburg, from Art and Race, 1928. A. Rosenberg, "Revolution in the Visual Arts," Volkische Beobachter, 1933. Robert Scholz, from Vital Questions about the Visual Arts, 1937.

Emil Nolde, letter to the president of the Prussian Academy of Arts, 1937. Fritz Kaiser, Guide to the Degenerate Art Exhibition, 1937. The Left and the Debate over Expressionism in the Thirties. Georg Lukacs, "Expressionism: Its Significance and Decline," Internationale Literatur, 1934. Klaus Mann, "Gottfried Benn: History of an Aberration," Das Wort, 1937. Herwarth Walden, "Vulgar Expressionism," Das Wort, 1938. Ernst Bloch, "Discussing Expressionism," Das Wort, 1938.

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