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VISUAL UPRISING IN GERMAN UNREST
Guest Blogger: Katelyn James


THE MAD SQUARE
{Modernity in German Art 1910–37}

‘The Mad Square’ by Felix Nussbaum

All art is exorcism. I paint dreams and visions too; the dreams and visions of my time. Painting is the effort to produce; order in yourself. There is much chaos in me, much chaos in our time.
– Otto Dix (German Painter & Printmaker)

For a rare opportunity to glimpse into the artistic culture of socially turbulent modern Germany, make your way down to Melbourne’s NGV before March 4th. The Mad Square: Modernity in German Art 1910-37 exhibition offers the chance to experience over 200 works of fascinatingly complex creative responses, including major works by Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Christian Schad, Hannah Höch, August Sander, László Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky. The immense creative outputs of this era are able to at once shock you morally and aesthetically, while at the same time be incredibly inspiring. This appeared to be a time of creative freedom from the traditional structures of art, which surely has had an unfathomable influence on visual communication today. 

‘Woman in a hat’ by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner


As you amble through the gallery you are presented with avant-garde movements which rose during this time such as Expressionism, Dada, Constructivism, Bauhaus, New Objectivity and Metropolis and finally an insight into what Hitler labelled Degenerate Art. Art forms extend across painting, photography, design, furniture, decorative arts, film, theatre, street art and political satire. Themes are full of passion and despair diluting diverse scenes from contemporary society, culture and politics, that have the ability to demand our attention even today and remind us of the power of the visual to record an era.

Otto Dix, Prostitute and War Wounded (1923).

For graphic artist and scupltor Kathe Kollwitz, part of the first generation of avant-garde artists in Berlin, it was a chance to address social and political issues in an attempt to ease and rebuild society. She was a committed pacifist and her images are a tribute to her regard for inspiring a more compassionate and humane society. Kollowitz’s black and white graphic woodcut technique illustrate the emotions and pain of her subjects so perfectly. Her highly regarded political lithography posters such as ‘Help Russia’ further showed her longing for a better life.

Käthe KOLLWITZ, Helft Russland [Help Russia]
‘Help Russia’ by Kathe Kollowitz 
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=45996

‘The Parents’ by Kathe Kollowitz
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=69684

Tremendously influential on graphic design and tightly connected to this period was the Bauhaus, often referred to as the most important art school of the 20th century. It's legacy has been said to be a basic desire to create and an understanding of the ability of art to bring about social change. Often considered to be a fine example of Bauhaus innovation was Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack who eventually found himself teaching Bauhaus ideas and principles at Geelong Grammar for many years. Also, revolutionary in the Bauhaus movement was Russian abstract artist and theorist Wassily Kandinsky who strongly believed in the power of colour and form.

An image of Reaching the stars
‘Reaching the stars’ by Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/work/DA13.1961/

Ludwig HIRSCHFELD MACK, Zieh-harmonika Spieler [The accordion player] [recto]; not titled [Panorama of valley with house] [verso]
‘The accordian player’ by Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=57001

'Composition' by Wassily Kandinsky

The fact that this collective of creatives still has the power to demand an audience is a triumph to the importance of visual communication as a prominent way in which we can document the world we inhabit, how things connect and how we relate to one another. 

Take the time and explore this utterly compelling exhibition of creativity from a time of abundant chaos!

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