Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibition

The Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibition is a showcase of artworks that have been stolen and destroyed by Nazi’s at the time. These works of art were known to be “degenerate” according to Adolf Hitler; because it was far different than the classical artworks that had more meaning and made more sense rather than abstract modern art. Originally the art show was put on in order to shame the artists and expose the German’s to the unacceptable artwork. The Exhibition was presented to “demonstrate that modernist tendencies, such as abstraction, are the result of genetic inferiority and society’s moral decline” (moma.org). Hitler related abstract paintings to be the product of mental illness. “Entartere Kunst” had over a million people visit the exhibition.
Famous German sculptor, Rudolf Belling was an artist who became banned from the arts due to his “degenerate” style.
He also was stripped of his membership from the Prussian Academy of Arts, Berlin. Many of his sculptures were either melted or smashed by the Nazi’s. This included his famous Dreiklang (Triad) sculpture displayed in Berlin (1929), was deemed to be “inescapably modern, it is a pioneering example of abstract sculpture, and was Belling’s first real success” (theguardian.com). This being completely against the art that Hitler accepted, it was confiscated and showcased in the Degenerate Art Exhibition. His other famous sculpture, Kopf in Messing, gave a very futuristic vibe and a sense of possible resemblance to robotic features. Also being far from Hitler’s ideologies. Belling, I feel was one of the more “lucky” artists at the time and was able to continue his works in other places of the world without being punished. Sadly many artists were named public enemies and famous artist Ernst Kirchner committed suicide due to this terrible
“movement”.

Belling was forced to flee from his country because of the mass “cleansing” of degenerate artworks and the ridicule the artists faced for expressing themselves. Rudolf moved to New York City in 1935 and had an exhibition in Weyhe Gallery. Being in America allowed him to be creative and explore modern and abstract art without being condemned. However Belling had to return to Germany in order to save his son from the potential dangers since his mother was Jewish. Belling was successfully able to emigrate his son in 1939 by illegally flying him to Istanbul, Turkey where Rudolf had resided from 1937. He became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul and was in charge of the department of sculpture. In 1951 to 1966 he was a professor at Istanbul Technical University in the architecture department. In 1955 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by the German president. And with the help of the foreign office he was able to bring back his artworks from New York. Finally at the age of eighty he returned to Krailling, Germany and died in 1972.