Amy I post 4

Amy Iarrobino

Post 4

1. Art is threatening to authoritarian thinkers and regimes as it has widespread appeal and influence on the public, those who must be controlled. An authoritarian regime desires solidarity in morality and a unified state (Mosse, 25). Art is able to portray ideal beauty and icons such as motherly tenderness or dominant masculinity. As long as the views reflected and interpreted from the artwork coincide with that of the state, it is considered a blessing by the authoritarians. For example, the nude body in glorification of war and masculinity is considered positive, while the nude form as decaying and/or sexual promotes indecency and values against the social norm. However, when art promotes disharmony and new viewpoints it becomes a disunifying and thus dangerous force. In addition, Plato feels that art is threatening as it causes and is based upon passionate thinking of pleasure and pain rather than on common sense. Plato argues in The Republic that art will lead to governing of the state based on emotion rather than logic (Plato, Book X, 12).

2. Artist: Otto Dix, German expressionist whose artwork was featured in the Degenerate Art exhibit

The Nun

Lady

Streichholzhändler

Dix’s artwork portrays the human form as grotesque, misshapen and decaying. For example, in Streichholzhändler, Dix highlights the crippled human form in an anti-military piece showing an amputated veteran on the street. This image is much different in its portrayal and message than the bronze statue Readiness (Mosse, Figure 18). Also, in The Nun the sides of the nun’s black head covering have images of naked women. The woman on the right side looks like a caring but disfigured mother and the woman on the left appears to be suffering, these images are far from the description Goebbels prescribed of “strong, healthy and good to look at” (Mosse, 28). Beauty does not seem to be a main concern in Dix’s works, but rather the lack of. For example, common conception interprets a nun as pure (white, bright colors) and optimistic. However, the figure in The Nun looks more like a witch with the green misshapen face, black clothing and dark background; she even seems to have a sad grimace on her face as she looks at the mother-figure. Dix reflects the idea that the war has defiled and dismembered the beauty of the human form. His work entitled Lady demonstrates his dissatisfaction with the perversion of beauty as it includes the figure of a soiled and gaudy prostitute. By calling the work Lady, Dix is perhaps indicating that the image was what the lady of Nazi Germany had become. The works are removed from reality and focus more on Dix’s emotional perception rather than sensory image in nature. Thus, Dix takes pictures that should be commonplace such as a man on the street, a nun and a lady and give them anti-war and anti-societal meaning.

a) Degeneracy is art that portrays decay and in Nazi Germany it meant any art that went against policies of the National Socialism. (Kuhnel) In particular Hitler included modern art such as German expressionism, cubism and surrealism that Hitler considered Jewish, Bolshevik, cosmopolitan, costly to the public or the work of mental illness sufferers. These artists often left Germany and sometimes their work was destroyed. As stated in the video clip in class, “All German Expressionists were against the war,” and therefore in clear opposition to Hitler’s aims to glorify war with the “good” German art. If artwork not approved by the Nazis is considered degenerate then this definition encompasses expressionism and almost all modern art. The video clip watched today in class included the statement that that which is inward (emotion/interpretation and perception of the mind) should be outlawed.

b) In Streichholzhändler I could clearly see Hitler’s point that it had anti-Nazi feelings. Unlike the art approved by National Socialism, this piece did not glorify war and the perfect masculine beauty of the soldier. Rather, this work was the complete opposite, portraying the soldier as disfigured, amputated, unkempt, ignored by those who passed by and in poor physical condition. The work threatens “body politic” by possibly causing additional anti-war feelings; the soldier is no longer a hero and role-model for Hitler youth to aspire to be. The Nun and Lady also criticized society at home and the changes caused by war and Nazism, the decay of the woman and even religious figure. Of the two the Lady has a notably different technique with blunt, unrefined brush strokes that emphasize the prostitute’s lack of respectability and also the artist’s view of the woman as a decayed lady. Thus, it is as though the artist himself recognizes his art as degenerate.

c) Art provided tangible and publicly accessible evidence vulnerable to Hitler’s criticism. The degenerate art exhibition provided an opportunity for Hitler to prove his own point through the crowded and chaotic display to gain support of the tranquil and stable National Socialist view. Through the public display of the art Hitler cleverly disguised it as somewhat democratic, allowing the German people the chance to view the artwork and form their own opinion. Also perhaps Hitler’s personal experiences influenced his dissatisfaction with the degenerate art. As a young man he was rejected twice from art school (Libby, lecture Sep 17 2007) and formed anti-semitic feelings. Some of the artists labeled degenerate were indeed Jewish and Jews often purchased artwork as well. Thus, Hitler claims in his speech that Judaism caused decay and deformation of the body due to its influence on the public in areas such as art criticism (Hitler, Speech Inaugurating the ‘Great Exhibition of German Art’).

d) Mosse argues on the basic principle that “beauty might serve to cement the unity of the nation” by reflecting “accepted moral standards” (Mosse, 25). Thus any demonstration of beauty with sensuality results in violation of sexual norms. Mosse gives the example of laws against homosexuality and the need for women to remain respectable (Mosse, 28). The art of Otto Dix indeed violated social norms in his pieces which did not glorify war, presented immoral decadence and portrayed a decaying nun, thus violating norms about politics, society and religion. As for past readings, take the example of Paris Hilton presented in the Power Point on Visual Literacy. Paris Hilton frequently violates social norms in her sensual controversies such as her advertisement for a burger at Carl’s, Jr. Assuming that Hilton is considered beauty, when she is associated with sensuality she violates sexual norm. In fact, the commercial was so provocative that it could not be aired on television and exposed to children. In addition, the image of Hilton being arrested again indicates a violation of the social norm that celebrities are above the law.

3. The image of the Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange is an example of (b) in that it depicts the body as degenerate or monstrous. The image uses dark lighting which causes negative, evil emotions to be associated with it. Thus, the mother is seen as monstrous or degenerate as she is in stark contrast to our idealized view of the loving mother indoctrinated in our society by religion (the Madonna) and the government. The mother seems to not be completely enraptured in the care of her children and is looking away hopelessly. In a sense, this image represents the decay of motherhood. The political ramification is that such decay is the result of the hardship of the Great Depression in the United States and those that view this image realize the plight of their fellow Americans.