HAVC 135B : German Art 1905-1945

Unit Four: Cold War Premises: Rebuilding Two Germanys

The final unit of the course is dedicated to Germany's division in the Cold War, as well as its the cultural policies in either Germany. We will conclude with a discussion about overarching themes addressed throughout the course.

Guiding QuestionsComments on Guiding Questions are due by Saturday before Assignment Three is due at 5PM. Make your comments at the bottom of THIS page. (Click here for more instructions.)

Extra Credit Assignment Information
Four points possible; Due in digital form by Monday of Exam Week.

Unit Schedule
 

This page has paths:

Contents of this path:

Contents of this tag:

This page has replies:

  1. How might the horrible outcomes of the Nazi’s use of art and culture have influenced the apolitical turn toward abstraction in West Germany, as well as the adoption of socialist realism in East Germany? The outcomes of Nazi use of art influenced the turn towards abstraction in West Germany because the artists were now free to express themselves without regulation and could move away from the realism that was encourage (almost forced) upon artists during the war. Socialist realism thrived in East Germany because it was viewed as the art of the people, art that was helping rebuild the image of Germany and its citizens. Nazi art created a identity for Germany that artists wanted to move away from, this lead to the adoption of new styles, and the reappropriation of old styles, to form a new identity.
  2. After World War II, there was an exile of German artists from Germany moving to different places in the world, in another way having the term "exile." placed on them. In the 20th century, because of the dawn of film making and Hollywood interest in perspective, a new generation of German artists would use film to help alert an American public the fears of fascism and dictatorship. By communicating and expressing their art to the American people, these German "exile" artists would use film as a way to preserve German intellectual and at the same time save the German art style from Hitler's past.. Films that would have deep meanings that would speak about the idea of fascism and wrong dictatorship, Citizen Kane and Casablanca, for example are prime examples of German Exile cinema being expressed as a warning to the American people. For example, in Casablanca is a scene where a man trying to enter into a country gives the wrong passport papers to enter the country, and is found to illegally come in the country. In an attempt to not go to prison, the individual tries to escape and run away, but is shot. This could act a metaphor of a dictatorship, or a country in which full control is consuming everyone. - Jerry Carino
  3. Through the development of a “plurality of vision”, the German exile was the save art under newfound cultural and visual literacy, unbound by Nazi ideology and free to express themselves (lecture). In a social process of denying and being denied their own homeland cultures, exiles had to simultaneously reinvent themselves and their art in order to fit into their new homes. As a newfound horizon for fleeing refugees, Hollywood was considered the “most important center of German exile culture” (lecture). Here, exile film exhibited a hybrid, pan-Euro flavor as seen in works such as Casablanca, a Hungarian-directed film portraying a politically neutral US with a permeating, decisive fear of refugees. German exile literature, conversely, was poignantly German, often detailing the country’s cultural and political strife. The Black Mountain College served as a safe haven for exiles, teaching in opposition to the “false values” of established academic art. Under Bauhaus influence, the BMC taught the importance of creative thinking and process in order to supplement art and life. Sierra Ochoa