How did German aesthetic values change as the Weimar Republic fell and state Nazism began, and to what extent did they intersect with the social, cultural and political transformations of that time? Contrary to conventional narratives that depict a transition away from modernity, this volume reveals that the complex artistic environment of the Weimar Republic persisted after the Nazis had taken power, despite their attempts at suppression.
Illuminating the vital exchanges that occurred across multiple art forms during a period of unmatched cultural activity, this multi-disciplinary volume explores the cultural transition between Weimar- and National Socialist-era Germany and offers a fresh perspective on the fate of modernism during a time of censorship and social stigma. Featuring essays on architecture, painting, cabaret, typography, and commercial design, the volume explores competing and comparable themes across German art from 1919-1945 and addresses how modern styles like New Vision photography, Dada, and Neue Sachlichkeit coexisted with established artistic modes.
Such visual complexity is evident from the volume’s eclectic coverage: ‘sexology’ and eroticism, visual grammar in typography and architecture, the reception of Weimar art in the National Socialist period, and the formation and transformation of queer and Jewish identities. It encompasses various subjects such as the animated films of Lotte Reininger, Gerhard Lamprecht's filmic adaptations of the 1920s, and the photography of László Moholy-Nagy, Christian Schad, and the German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld. By bridging photography, moving image, and painting, this highly interdisciplinary work provides a fresh perspective on the ever-changing art and aesthetic principles of early 20th-century Germany.
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1. Shadow Schein and Scherenschnitte: Lotte Reiniger and the Silhouettes of Early Weimar, Erin Maynes (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA)
2. Cinema of the Underprivileged: Heinrich Zille’s Influence on Weimar Street Film, Andréas-Benjamin Seyfert (UCLA, USA)
3. Moholy-Nagy: Shadows and Space-Time, Donna West Brett (The University of Sydney, Australia)
4. Female Sexuality, Sex Research and the Visual Arts, Birgit Lang and Eliza Coyle (The University of Melbourne, Australia)
5. In Pursuit of Beauty: Manassé and Erotic Photography in the Weimar and Nazi Eras, Camilla Smith (University of Birmingham, UK)
6. Visual Diversity within Gleichschaltung? The Diffusion of ‘New Typography’ during the Interwar Period in Germany, Patrick Rössler (University of Erfurt, Germany)
7. The Case of Color in 1920s and 1930s German Architecture, Deborah Ascher Barnstone (The University of Sydney, Australia)
8. Altars to Ambition: The Triptych Revival in Late Weimar and National Socialist Germany, Peter Chametzky (University of South Carolina, USA)
9. Cabaret in Transition: Ilse Bois’ Parodies Between the Times and Between the Genres, Mila Ganeva (Miami University, USA)
10. The Case of Breker: Sculpture Reception, 1919 – 1943, Nina Lübbren (Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
11. Flamboyantly Gay, Jewish and Avant-garde: Alfred Flecthheim’s Dealing with Transitional Aesthetics, Transsexualities and Antisemitism, Fae Brauer (University of East London Centre for Cultural Research, UK)
Index
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