Editing Emil Nolde (section)

==Degenerate art==
However, [[Adolf Hitler]] rejected all forms of modernism as "[[degenerate art]]"; the Nazi regime officially condemned Nolde's work. Until that time, he had been held in great esteem in Germany. A total of 1,052 of his works were removed from museums, more than those of any other artist.<ref>Knubben, Thomas. ''Emil Nolde: Unpainted Pictures''. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2000. p. 141.</ref> Some were included in the [[Degenerate Art Exhibition|''Entartete Kunst'' exhibition]] of 1937, despite his protests, including (later) a personal appeal to Nazi ''[[Gauleiter]]'' [[Baldur von Schirach]] in Vienna. He was not allowed to paint—even in private—after 1941. Nevertheless, during this period he created hundreds of watercolors, which he hid. He called them the "Unpainted Pictures".

In 1942, Nolde wrote:

<blockquote>
There is silver blue, sky blue and thunder blue. Every color holds within it a soul, which makes me happy or repels me, and which acts as a stimulus. To a person who has no art in him, colors are colors, tones tones...and that is all. All their consequences for the human spirit, which range between heaven to hell, just go unnoticed.<ref>Quoted in ''Nolde: Forbidden Pictures'' [exhibition catalogue]. London: Marlsborough Fine Art Ltd., 1970. p. 9.</ref>
</blockquote>