German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse exhibition at MOMA

Kandinsky's Picture with Archer

Dix's "War"

Dix's War

Dix's "War"

Dix's "War"

Beckmann's "Hell"

Beckmann's "Hell"

Beckmann's "Trip to Berlin"

Beckmann's "Trip to Berlin"

Pechstein's "Lord's Prayer"

Kollwitz

Kollwitz

"German Expressionism:  The Graphic Impulse" exhibition just opened this weekend at MOMA and it is an absolute must see!!  I got a sneak peek on Friday before it opened and it really blows you away.  The crux of this show is the importance of works on paper, in particular, the editioned print, played in German Expressionist art.   The wild spread of printmaking in German by young artists was due to several reasons.   It was an affordable means of making art and there was an immediacy to the images' messages in the reduction of colors to black and white.  Also, getting "back to basics", young artists embraced an old technique (such as the woodcut which early Northern Renaissance artists such as Durer used) and used it for contemporary subject matter.  The proliferation or editioning of prints, portfolios and books helped spread the artistic images that were socially critical and relevant to the devastation of war and the ensuing corrupt government at the time.  The growth of the print market in Germany (during hyperinflation of the Weimar republic - the upper middle classes thought buying art was a good investment) supported the artists projects.

This exhibition's theme is by no means new or innovative, some of the works I have seen before in the past decade at the Neue Galerie in similar themed exhibitions, and also some on their own in the permanent collection of MOMA.  However, what is special about this exhibition is that it spans over the first three decades of modern German (and some Austrian) art in the 20th century, covering Die Brucke, Der Blaue Reiter, Neue Sachlichkeit, and contemporary Austrian Expressionism movements.   You get a very clear picture that these movements were not created in a vacuum and that that artists were not necessarily always working closely together but whose loose association was also critical.   The influences of early movements or the reaction of later movements on earlier movements were essential to the artistic progression of art during and in between the wars in Europe and in Germany.   Also, more importantly, there are works that haven't been shown before or often.  In particular, there is an amazing early Kandinsky "Painting with an Archer" (from his time spent in Germany), still very much a figurative image before his work became much more reductive and abstract.  It is gorgeous and looks like a quilt - as his attachment to color theory seemed to be realized in this work.  The colors are saturated and vibrant and are painted in thick, highly textured lozenges adjacent to contrasting colors.  The painting looks as if it hasn't see the light of day - its in perfect condition and it looks energized, fresh and new.  And it was painted in 1909.

Of work that hasn't been seen before are the many portfolios of prints that were produced during that time.  MOMA has done an exceptional job in showing the portfolios in their entirety when possible and the show is installed in the most optimal way to view these (grouped closely together - the beautifully painted walls of the galleries in deep rich red, ochre and warm gray showcase these works well).  For example, I have seen only a few images of Otto Dix's "War" portfolio which he made in 1923-1924.  In this exhibition the entire portfolio, all 50 images are together on one wall.  They are heartwrenching images of death, destruction during war and the aftermath of crippled wounded soldiers and a crippled demoralized society.  Seeing these together, its  overwhelmingly emotional and painful to experience.  You can understand why many of the artists during this period suffered and died from many medical problems and nervous breakdowns after their own participation on the war front.  Dix amazingly used the corrosive nature of the printing process in these works, which was etching, which lent itself in the description of horrors that took place in the images.

Many of the portfolios are also shown in their entirety and with their covers.  In many cases, in later years, the portfolios were split up for sale or between heirs of a family, but seeing the images all together, such as Max Beckmann's "Hell" and "Trip to Berlin", it is obvious that the images related to one another and can be read like a narrative.  MOMA, in its vast print archives, brings these images back together.  (Most of the works in this exhibition are from the MOMA permanent collection.)

Also, despite all the destruction that war had on society, Max Pechstein's "The Lord's Prayer" series of prints, is a small glimmer of hope.  Although the images seem to have less religious affliation than the title would imply, it is an expression of the relinquishing of contemporary suffering in hopes that He will answer their desperate calls for help.

The exhibition is well represented in Heckels, Kirchners, Kandinskys, Marcs, Rotluff-Schmidts, Dixs, Beckmanns, Grosz, Schieles and Kokoschkas as well as some that you don't see as often (Felixmueller, Corinth and Campendonk).  Feiniger, an American working in Germany at the time, is included in this context.  These artists captured the rise of modernism in bohemian circles as well as the zeitgeist of anxiety of the modern man.  This was followed by the depictions of war, its devastation and effects on society - the millions of young men lost and ostracization of the wounded, the heartbroken and impoverished widows and orphans, the corruption of the men in power and resulting hyperinflation.

In my opinion, what the exhibition is lacking in is something that seems to occur in all these exhibitions - never enough Kathe Kollowitz, one of the few recognized women artists at the time, who devastatingly lost her own son to war, who takes the demoralization of war and social affairs at the time and brings them to a whole new level of heartbreaking reality in her works.  They are intensely emotional and will lead you to tears.  I always wish I could see more of her work as well as other women artists creating during this period.

Although these works were produced a few generations ago - some of them are close to a century old - are very important for us to look at and understand during the time we are living in now.  We are not living with a war on our own soil as we sit comfortably in front of our tvs and computers and watching the devastating effects that war has on people abroad, but we need to understand how destructive and demoralizing it is to people on both sides and to civilians.  This reality is captured in these works.  They are a real expression of what people at the time were feeling emotionally, but at the same time, they are timeless - as war and corruption continue through time.  You can't help but feel moved by looking at these works and although they are overwhelmingly depressing and devastating, you can walk away grateful that there was a spark of genius creativity and proliferation amongst these young artists to record what happened and remind us how a society can be destroyed by what their government decides for them and puts them through.

Link to exhibition at MOMA