If you’re in NYC this spring, get to the Neue Galerie to see “Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937” (through June 30).
Here’s a review by Holland Cotter from the New York Times.
Professor M. Och
ARTH 114 and ARTH 115: Introduction to Western Art, University of Mary Washington
I thought all of the portraits in this gallery were very interesting to look at . The facial features were all very nicely done and their facial expressions are rather mysterious. I also really liked the coloring; some were black and white, while some other ones were more colorful. I was able to use my imagination to interpret the reasoning behind the way the coloring was done on each portrait.
What I found interesting years ago was finding out Hitler was not only an artist, but that he was a talented artist. These expressions are very dark and monochromatic, which makes it very mysterious. I feel like he interpreted his emotions into these pieces.
It was fascinating to find out that Hitler had an artistic side to him. Through his madness and acts of hatred, he expressed his feelings through art. We can look at these pieces and try to better understand the man that Hitler was.
I remember watching the film The Monuments Men, the film about the group of men during World War II that rescued art pieces from Nazi Germany. It was a very interesting film. I knew that the Nazis destroyed some works of art, but I was less knowledgeable about the pieces that they sold. It is shocking that this piece of legislation exists. Anachronistic laws that fly under the radar is a phenomenon in every government, some humorously so, however this is so controversial that it is a wonder that it has persisted for so long. As mentioned in the article, history has twisted the ownership of these paintings so much that unraveling it now should be a daunting task.