For three years, the Minneapolis Institute of Art has been planning “Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910-1945: Masterworks from the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin,” an exhibition featuring the work of German artists up to and after World War I and II.
The exhibition flows through time, beginning with works from the early 1910s, which saw an explosion of Expressionist paintings in reaction and opposition to the rising conservatism in government and society. Each room is dedicated to a moment in time: the aftermath of World War I, the rise of fascism and the Nazi party, the horrors of World War II and the ambiguous period afterward.
Presenting curator Tom Rassieur said the exhibition was a timely addition to the museum.
“As the day of the opening approached, these issues were becoming ever more present in the minds of people here in Minnesota in turbulent times,” Rassieur said. “And I think that people may relate to the issues faced by artists and audiences living at that time.”
On Jan. 26, 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by two federal agents on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. The site of the shooting was four blocks from the Mia.
The story of the exhibition unfolds throughout seven connected rooms, each featuring a new time period and movement of art. The exhibition itself is a part of a larger tour, with stops in Texas and New Mexico.
It features the work from Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Conrad Felixmüller and Christian Schad from the Neue Nationalgalerie’s collection, as well as the addition of “ Study for Improvisation V” by Vassily Kandinsky from the Mia’s collection and The Walker Art Center’s “Blue Horses” by Franz Marc.
Kandinsky and Marc’s paintings sit across from each other on opposite gallery walls.
“It’s a wonderful loan,” Rasseieur said. “Our Kandinsky comes from 1910, the bookend year of the show. It’s the same year that Franz Marc’s ‘Blue Horses’ was painted, and by putting those two together, we’re able to see the beginning of a certain art group called the Blue Rider Group.”
Der Blaue Reiter, or the Blue Rider Group, was a German Expressionist art group based in Munich, Germany, from 1911 to 1914. It “centered on conveying the inner realities” of society through color and form, according to the Mia.
Der Blaue Reiter was one of many German groups that began to examine societal emotions through art.
Another mirrored pair is the portraits “The Art Dealer Alfred Flechtheim” by Otto Dix and “Heinrich Thannhauser” by Lovis Corinth; while on opposite walls of the gallery room, the two portraits illustrate the breadth of portraiture and the impact of harmful ethnic stereotypes levied at the Jewish-German population.
“The Art Dealer Alfred Flechtheim,” by Otto Dix, demonstrates the damaging stereotypes of Jewish people being spread at the time, with Flechtheim as a towering man with an exaggerated nose and too large proportions, gripping tightly to this art before accepting a possible deal. The painting is cold and resentful, likely a reflection of Dix’s anger towards the culture of art dealership and possible underlying bigotry.
Across the gallery is the warm and energetic “Heinrich Thannhauser” by Lovis Corinth. Similar to Flechtheim, Thannhauser was a prominent Jewish art dealer in the 1910s. However, Corinth’s depiction of him as an inviting man with the hint of a smile, or a joke in his eyes, evidently portrays him as a celebrated and beloved man before he died in 1935.
The theme of mirrors is present throughout the exhibition, through the works of the painters and their placements in the gallery.
“In the end, there are a number of artists who offered messages that society needed to pay attention to then and should pay attention to now. There’s a lot of meaning here,” Rassieur said. “And it’s really a triumph of the human spirit. There are a number of works in this show that are remakes — the works were destroyed, and then years later the artist would repaint it when they had the freedom to do so because it became too dangerous.”
The true emotional impact of the exhibition can only be felt by visiting the Mia and taking a walk back in time. “Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910-1945: Masterworks from the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin” is open to the public through July 19, with tickets available at tickets.artsmis.org.
