wiedler.ch

book (design) story #463

fritz kaiser, adolf hitler:
entartete kunst

verlag für kultur- und wirtschaftswerbung, berlin, 1937
size: 21 x 15 cm
designer: (unknown)

now for something completely different: this nasty pamphlet is a guide for the infamous nazi propaganda exhibition "entartete kunst" (degenerate art) of 1937 which first opened in munich and then traveled through germany. the exhibition showed modernist art banned by the nazi regime for being products of un-germanic "jewish culture bolshevism". interestingly, the booklet's cover design is sort of mock-expressionist – to ridicule modernism. it shows a sculpture by otto freundlich. this jewish abstract artist was murdered in the majdanek concentration camp in 1943.

the title page looks very different – centered fraktur in a frame. it mentions one fritz kaiser as editor, however a major part of the text are excerpts from a "führer's" speech, "the end of culture bolshevism". by 1937 those critic voices who questioned this demagogic buzzword – see e.g. story 1 – had been shut up in germany.

note the photos of "denerate" art works are arranged slighly slanted and some overlapping, in order to make them look dubious. similarly, in the original setup of the exhibition some paintings were deliberately hung with a slant – see this photo of hitler visiting the show. there are later exhibition photos showing the paintings straight. in the booklet the "führer's" quotes opposite are treated differently – also typographically.

among the "featured" artists was oskar kokoschka whose work is compared to paintings by "lunatics" ...