Editing Degenerate art (section)

== Weimar reactionism ==
{{See also|Secession (art)|Decadent movement|Jugendstil}}
[[File:CABINET DES DR CALIGARI 01.jpg|thumb|left|A still from ''[[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920 film)|The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]]'']]
The early 20th century was a period of wrenching changes in the arts. The development of [[modern art]] at the beginning of the 20th century, albeit with roots going back to the 1860s, denoted a revolutionary divergence from traditional artistic values to ones based on the personal perceptions and feelings of the artists. Under the [[Weimar government]] of the 1920s, Germany emerged as a leading center of the ''[[avant-garde]]''. It was the birthplace of [[Expressionism]] in painting and sculpture, of the [[Atonal music|atonal]] musical compositions of [[Arnold Schoenberg]], and the jazz-influenced work of [[Paul Hindemith]] and [[Kurt Weill]]. Films such as [[Robert Wiene]]'s ''[[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920 film)|The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]]'' (1920) and [[F. W. Murnau]]'s ''[[Nosferatu (film)|Nosferatu]]'' (1922) brought Expressionism to cinema.

In the visual arts, such innovations as [[Fauvism]], [[Cubism]], [[Dada]], and [[Surrealism]]—following [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] and [[Post-Impressionism]]—were not universally appreciated. The majority of people in Germany, as elsewhere, did not care for the new art, which many resented as [[elitist]], morally suspect, and too often incomprehensible.<ref>Adam 1992, p. 29.</ref>  Artistic rejection of [[traditional authority]], intimately linked to the [[Industrial Revolution]], the [[individualistic]] values of the [[Age of Enlightenment]] and the advance of democracy as the preferred form of government, was exhilarating to some. However, it proved extremely threatening to others, as it took away the security they felt under [[Ancien Régime|the older way of things]].<ref>[[H. W. Janson|Janson, H. W.]], and Anthony F. Janson. 1991. ''History of Art''. New York: [[Harry N. Abrams]]. {{ISBN|0-8109-3401-9}}. p. 615.</ref>

[[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], who took an active interest in regulating art in Germany, criticized [[Impressionism]] as "gutter painting" ({{lang|de|Gossenmalerei}})<ref name="Kühnel_GAO">Kühnel, Anita (2003). "Entartete Kunst". ''Grove Art Online''.</ref> and forbade [[Käthe Kollwitz]] from being awarded a medal for her print series ''A Weavers' Revolt'' when it was displayed in the Berlin Grand Exhibition of the Arts in 1898.<ref>Goldstein, Robert Justin, and Andrew Nedd (2015). ''Political Censorship of the Visual Arts in Nineteenth-Century Europe: Arresting Images''. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 159. {{ISBN|9780230248700}}.</ref> In 1913, the Prussian house of representatives passed a resolution "against degeneracy in art".<ref name="Kühnel_GAO" />

The Nazis viewed the culture of the [[Weimar Republic|Weimar period]] with disgust. Their response stemmed partly from a conservative [[Aesthetics|aesthetic]] taste and partly from their determination to use culture as a propaganda tool.<ref>Adam 1992, p. 110.</ref> On both counts, a painting such as [[Otto Dix]]'s ''War Cripples'' (1920) was anathema to them. It unsparingly depicts four badly disfigured veterans of the [[First World War]], then a familiar sight on [[Berlin]]'s streets, rendered in [[caricature]]d style. (In 1937, it would be displayed in the Degenerate Art exhibition next to a label accusing Dix—himself a volunteer in World War I<ref>Norbert Wolf, Uta Grosenick (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=MbOdSrOFfpEC&pg=PA36 ''Expressionism''], [[Taschen]], p. 34. {{ISBN|3-8228-2126-8}}.</ref>—of "an insult to the German heroes of the Great War".<ref>Barron 1991, p. 54.</ref>)

Art historian Henry Grosshans says that Hitler "saw Greek and Roman art as uncontaminated by Jewish influences. Modern art was [seen as] an act of aesthetic violence by the Jews against the German spirit. Such was true to Hitler even though only [[Max Liebermann|Liebermann]], [[Ludwig Meidner|Meidner]], [[Otto Freundlich|Freundlich]], and [[Marc Chagall]], among those who made significant contributions to the German modernist movement, were Jewish. But Hitler ... took upon himself the responsibility of deciding who, in matters of culture, thought and acted like a Jew."<ref>Grosshans 1983, p. 86.</ref> The supposedly "Jewish" nature of all art that was indecipherable, distorted, or that represented "depraved" subject matter was explained through the concept of degeneracy, which held that distorted and corrupted art was a symptom of an inferior race. By propagating the theory of degeneracy, the Nazis combined their [[antisemitism]] with their drive to control the culture, thus consolidating public support for both campaigns.<ref>Barron 1991, p. 83.</ref>