New Objectivity: Modern German Art in the Weimar Republic 1919-1933

About the Book

Between the end of World War I and the Nazi assumption of power, Germany's Weimar Republic (1919-1933) functioned as a thriving laboratory of art and culture. As the country experienced unprecedented and often tumultuous social, economic and political upheaval, many artists rejected Expressionism in favour of a new realism to capture this emerging society. Dubbed Neue Sachlichkeit - New Objectivity - its adherents turned a cold eye on the new Germany: its desperate prostitutes and crippled war veterans, its alienated urban landscapes, its decadent underworld where anything was available for a price. Showcasing 150 works by more than 50 artists, this book reflects the full diversity and strategies of this art form. Organised around five thematic sections, it mixes photography, works on paper and painting to bring them into a visual dialogue. Artists such as Otto Dix, George Grosz and Max Beckmann are included alongside figures such as Christian Schad, Alexander Kanoldt, Georg Schrimpf, August Sander, Lotte Jacobi and Aenne Biermann. Also included are numerous essays that examine the politics of New Objectivity and its legacy, the relation of this new realism to international art movements of the time; the context of gender roles and sexuality; and the influence of new technology and consumer goods. Published in association with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. AUTHOR: Stephanie Barron is a Senior Curator and heads the Modern Art department at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art. Sabine Eckmann is the William T. Kemper Director and Chief Curator of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. 300 colour illustrations

About the Author :
Stephanie Barron is a Senior Curator and heads the Modern Art department at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art. Sabine Eckmann is the William T. Kemper Director and Chief Curator of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.

Review :
"An absolutely smashing book. . . . The production values and organization of this volume could not be better, and it contains illuminating essays by 16 writers who take on different aspects of that unique period in art."
--Edward Sorel, The New York Times Book Review

MAX BECKMANN: THE STILL LIFES
"Reveals what a master of the genre [Beckmann] was. . . . It's a splendid collection, which includes a few of the quiet, conventional canvases Beckmann did before World War II, and closes with the explosive, wildly inventive masterpieces done shortly before his death."

Edward Sorel, "The New York Times Sunday Book Review"
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"An absolutely smashing book . . . The production values and organization of this volume could not be better, and it contains illuminating essays by 16 writers who take on different aspects of that unique period in art."
Edward Sorel, "The New York Times Book Review"
"
-This is Barron's sixth major exhibition of German art, and both the show and the accompanying catalog are broader in scope than the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2007 Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s--which focused on the left-wing Verist artists--and fortify the significance of this movement.-
--Arts & Auction

-The most extensive survey of its theme so far undertaken in the US, with around 200 works, it aims to reflect the full spectrum of art production that during the 1920s came to be recognized as Post-Expressionist.-
--The Art Newspaper

-An absolutely smashing book . . . The production values and organization of this volume could not be better, and it contains illuminating essays by 16 writers who take on different aspects of that unique period in art.-
--Edward Sorel, The New York Times Book Review

"This is Barron's sixth major exhibition of German art, and both the show and the accompanying catalog are broader in scope than the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2007 Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s--which focused on the left-wing Verist artists--and fortify the significance of this movement."
--Arts & Auction

"The most extensive survey of its theme so far undertaken in the US, with around 200 works, it aims to reflect the full spectrum of art production that during the 1920s came to be recognized as Post-Expressionist."
--The Art Newspaper
"An absolutely smashing book . . . The production values and organization of this volume could not be better, and it contains illuminating essays by 16 writers who take on different aspects of that unique period in art."
--Edward Sorel, The New York Times Book Review