WHEN the Nazis mounted an exhibition in Munich in 1937, their purpose was not to celebrate art, but condemn it. The so-called 'Entartete Kunst' or 'Degenerate Art' show was a macabre blockbuster designed to represent what was perceived to be the very worst of German society, specifically the trailblazers of the European avantgarde. The sprawling presentation, which consisted of 740 works confiscated from major institutions across the country, turned some of the greatest artists of the modern age into enemies of the state.
Among pieces by artists such as Max Beckmann, Otto Dix and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner hung a total of 14 paintings by Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian abstractionist who had long made Germany his home. These included Zweierlei Rot (Two kinds of red) from 1916, an expressive explosion of brushstrokes that was denounced for its apparent Bolshevik sensibilities, and Improvisation 10 (from 1910), a riot of colour designed to suggest a spiritual resonance.
The vitriolic caption scrawled across the wall read 'crazy at any price'.
The fact that the Nazi regime took such a deep dislike to Kandinsky's work should come as no surprise. Since the turn of the 20th century, he had pursued a form of art that did away with the rational or outwardly representational, instead searching for a transcendental power that could be evoked through light, colour and form. He is considered one of the earliest if not the earliest-proponents of pure abstraction in modern Europe.
Denne historien er fra April 17, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 17, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
