Die Sammlung der Nationalgalerie 1900-1945
U. Kittelmann
9783954760541
520 pages
Distanz Verlag Gmbh Llc
Overview
Over the past several years, the Nationalgalerie, Berlin, has reviewed its collections and presented its treasures in three major exhibitions: Modern Times. 1900–1945 (March 2010–October 2011) Divided Heaven. 1945–1968 (November 2011–September 2013) Expansion of the Combat Zone. 1968–2000 (November 2013–December 2014) The first part of this collection presentation is now available as an opulently designed book. The focus is on key works of modern painting and sculpture from the first half of the twentieth century. The book unites highlights of Expressionism, Dada, New Objectivity, the art of the Bauhaus, and Surrealism in a dazzling array: from the monumental frieze Edvard Munch painted for the Berliner Kammerspiele theater in 1906/07 and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s vibrant magnum opus “Potsdamer Platz” (1914) to Fernand Léger’s “Two Sisters” with their vaguely industrial bodies (1935). These and other canonical works of avant-garde art are embedded in the rich diversity of the era’s art. In a parallel strand, the presentation traces the unique history of the Nationalgalerie itself, which is closely interwoven with the vicissitudes of twentieth-century history at large. With essays by Florian Illies, Udo Kittelmann, and Dieter Scholz as well as selections from contemporary writings by Curt Corrinth, Hermann Essig, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Iwan Goll, Franz Hessel, Else Lasker-Schüler, Julius Meier-Graefe, Erich Mühsam, Franz Roh, Heinrich Vogeler-Worpswede, Mary Wigman, Kurt Tucholsky (alias Ignaz Wrobel), Stefan Zweig, and others, partly in facsimile.
