Degenerate Art Exhibition: Kunststadt Munchen 1937.

摘要

In 1933, Hitler declared Munich, Germany's celebrated center of art since the early nineteenth century, the "Kunststadt des Deutschen Reiches." Four years later, on July 18th, 1937 Bavaria's capital became the stage for the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, Germany's new "Temple of Art." Simultaneously, the regime displayed confiscated avant-garde paintings and sculptures in the "Entartete Kunst" Ausstellung at the Hofgarten galleries, a historic site for royal art collections. The contrast between the two regime sponsored installations, the art within and the purpose of the exhibitions has been the subject of considerable scholarship. Twenty years ago, art historians reconstructed the infamous 1937 installation of 'degenerate art' based on existing photographs and inventory lists. However, neither the architectural space in which the exhibition was shown nor the public sphere from which the exhibition was accessed has been examined to date. The physical environment helped shape the viewer experience and his/her perception and interpretation of the art installed in the historic cultural heart of Munich and contributed considerably to the notoriety of the exhibition.;The "Entartete Kunst" Ausstellung was viewed by more than two million people from around the world. Die Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung, which was to be the main feature of Munich's 1937 "Festival of the Arts," attracted far fewer visitors. Munich's "Entartete Kunst" Ausstellung was a stunning and unexpected attraction. It was strikingly different from other German exhibitions of so-called 'degenerate art' that were staged throughout Germany between 1933 and 1941. In addition to the remarkable physical setting of the exhibition, Munich's reputation as Kunststadt, tradition for artistic development and cultural influence, paradoxically contributed to the infamy of the "Entartete Kunst" Ausstellung, yet undercut Hitler's design to promote the cultural transformation the National Socialist party attempted to achieve.;The methodology for this contextual analyses involves review of historical texts and surveys, supplemented---and sometimes contrasted---with examination of new archival material, pre- and post-World War II photographs, maps and tourist guides.