The Art Institute of Chicago

Neo-Idealism, Expressionism, and the Writing of Art History

Author(s): Jay A. Clarke
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1, Negotiating History: German
Art and the Past (2002), pp. 24-37+107-108
Published by: The Art Institute of Chicago
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4113049 .
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NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM,
ART HISTORY
JAY A. CLARKE
THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
have
relatively few Americansheard
Whyof the Neo-Idealists Arnold B6cklin,
Max Klinger,and Hans Thoma,but aremore
likely familiarwith the work of Expression-
ists Ernst Ludwig Kirchner,VasilyKandinsky,
and Emil Nolde? The main reasonis that,due
in part to the politics of WorldWarII and its
immediate aftermath,culturalcommentators
since 1945haveoften presenteda skewedpor-
trait of the Neo-Idealist and Expressionist
styles and their relationship to each other.
UnderNazi rule most of the GermanExpres-
sionists were derided and branded"degener-
ate"artists;they were forcedto flee Germany
or discontinue making art altogether. Even
seemingly benign images such as Kirchner's
woodcut WinterNight in Moonlight (fig. i)
were deaccessionedfrom museumsor confis-
catedfromJewishcollectorsby the Nazis, and
either destroyed or sold.' The reputation of
artists such as Kirchner, rehabilitated after
WorldWarII, cannotbe understoodapartfrom
their perceivedopposition to National Social-
ism. Becausethe majorityof the Expressionists
were anti-Hitler,after 1945theirartwas hailed
as politically radical,especiallyin the United
States,to whichmanyof themhademigratedor
fled due to persecution.2
Conversely, the Neo-Idealist artists
whose work Hitler adoptedas partof his per-
verse culturalpropagandamachine-among
them Klinger, B6cklin, and Thoma- have
AND THE WRITING OF
been forgotten or marginalizedby American
scholarsand omittedfrom the canon of mod-
ern art. Hitler "borrowed" or confiscated
works by these artists from museums and
Jewish collectors in order to adorn public
buildings and the privateresidences of Nazi
officials.In orderto promote the legitimizing
impression that he ruled in the name of his-
tory, he associated himself with populist,
nationaliststyles such as Neo-Idealismas well
as with German icons such as the late-
medieval German painters and printmakers
AlbrechtDiirerand LucasCranachthe Elder.'
If we compareThoma's1898 color lithograph
The Guardian of the Valley (fig. 3), which
itself depicts a medieval knight in armor,to
The Flag Bearer by the Nazi artist Hubert
Lanzinger(fig. 2), which representsHitler in
similar garb,we can understandwhy artists
like Thoma have been forgotten: their work
reminds us too much of National Socialism.
Such admittedlyabhorrentassociationshave Figure 1
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
fostered,however,an incompleteunderstand-
(German; 1880-1938).
ing of the history of Germanart. WinterNight in Moon-
Much of this misunderstanding stems light, 1918 (detail).
not from the later political uses of these Color woodcut on tan
wove paper; image
styles, but from the very terms in which
30.7 x 29.6 cm (12V8 x
early-twentieth-century critics and artists
II/1s in.), sheet 51.8 x
explainedtheir importanceand justifiedtheir
40 cm (203/8 x 153/4in.).
existence. This sense of the divide between Gift of the Print and
Neo-IdealismandExpressionismwas fueledby Drawing Club
art criticswritingaround 910o,who portrayed (1949.201).
25
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NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
Neo-Idealismas a conservative, backwardstyle
against which Expressionistscould definetheir
art as groundbreakingand anti-bourgeois.4
Ignoring Expressionism's ties to the Neo-
Idealistart of the i88os and I89os, these crit-
ics differentiatedExpressionismfrom acade-
mic German art, Impressionism, and Neo-
Idealismby stressingthat its creativeimpulses
were inspired by distant history.What these
authors conveniently overlooked or omitted
was that Neo-Idealist artistsof the previous
generation were also praised for their visual
ties to the Germanpast.
Both Neo-Idealists and Expressionists
were subjectedto similarcriticismsof foreign-
ness, Frenchness, and degeneracy.Far from
mirror opposites, both groups turned to the
sameset of latemedievalandRomanticartistic
sourcesandstereotypes--thework of Albrecht
Diirer and the primacyof the imagination,for
example- to defend themselvesas authenti-
cally German,and in the process cultivatethe
powerfulpatronageof middle-classaudiences.
These resemblanceswere not just rhetorical,
however-they were also aesthetic. Despite
theirattemptsto distancethemselvesfromtheir
Neo-Idealist forebears,many Expressionists
createdart that explores the very motifs and
intereststhat occupiedNeo-Idealists a gener-
ation before.
During the last decadeof the nineteenth
century, as a newly unified Germany strove
to define itself politically, economically,and
culturally,critics invented a "national"style,
Neo-Idealism, which remained influential
andhighly marketablefor overa decade.Neo-
Idealismwas describedprimarilyin contrastto
the supposedlydocumentary,scientificempha-
sis of FrenchNaturalismand Impressionism,
which German audiences saw as connot-
ing socialismandculturaldegeneracy" German
critics praisedpractitionersof Neo-Idealism
26
because they, unlike the Naturalists and
Impressionists,preferredliterary-basednar-
rative;emphasizedthe imaginative, musical,
mythical, and intellectual qualities of their
work; and depicted their subjects in a rela-
tively detailedand tightly focused manner.
Arnold B6cklin and Max Klinger were
the torch-bearersof Neo-Idealism, and their
art took on a patriotic significance for crit-
ics writing in the I89os. These Neo-Idealist
commentators conscripted both the subject
matter and media of artists such as B6cklin,
Klinger,and Thoma in their campaign for a
regenerative, nostalgic return to a simpler
world,a preurbanizedutopiafreefrom the cor-
ruptinginfluencesof industrialsociety.Critics
such as Ferdinand Avenarius and Richard
Muther,forinstance,championedNeo-Idealism
as an arttiedto HellenismandRomanticism,so
much so that the style was sometimes called
Neo-Romanticism; it was likewise allied to
the so-called "medievalism"and "primitiv-
ism" of Diirer and Martin Schongauer,both
fifteenth-centuryartists whose imagery was
seen to exemplifya timelessperiod when Ger-
man artthrived.
Avenarius, editor of the journal Der
Kunstwartand the premierproponent of the
nationalistic"HomelandArt" movementthat
swept through Germany during the I89os,
promoted Neo-Idealism--which he termed
"ImaginationPainting"-as a native alterna-
tive to French Impressionism and Symbol-
ism. Avenariusand others, reformulatingthe
German Romantic philosopher Immanuel
Kant'stheoriesof emotiveprojection,ascribed
to Neo-Romantic images a prototypically
Germanpoetic,subjective,and emotionalcon-
tent, one that allowedviewers to project their
own imaginative,intellectual meanings onto
works of art. "German Idealism" was itself
a term used to describe the philosophy of
Kant and others, which acknowledged the

subjectiveperception of unknowable, tran-
scendentrealityand promotedcreativeimag-
inationin the arts.
Out of the Romanticaestheticians'link-
age betweenpoetry andimaginationgrew the
work of these Neo-Idealist thinkers, who
employedRomanticnotions of literary,musi-
cal,andgraphiccreativityto investthisnew art
with nationalistic significance. Historically,
Germanssaw themselvesas excellingin liter-
ature(Goethe),music (RichardWagner),and
imagination(the Nibelungenliedand the tales
of the Grimmbrothers),butnot in visualart.So
for artto be specificallyGerman,not French,
criticsemphasizedsuchqualities.As the French
poet andcriticJulesLaforguewrote of B6cklin
and Klingerin 1883:"Inaccordancewith their
nationalcharacter,their originalityis derived
from a literary,not an opticalpoint of view."'6
If Impressionismwas tied to the visual tran-
scriptionof optical sensations,then, accord-
ing to Laforgue,Neo-Idealismwas associated
with the literaryand intellectualspheres.
In the i88os and I89os, following Ger-
many'svictory in the Franco-PrussianWar,
French-influencedNaturalism and Impres-
sionism (often conflated as one style) were
perceivedas radicalandpolluting,andjudged
both unpatrioticand potentially subversive.
The powerful conservativecritic and editor
FriedrichPecht,in an 1887articlein his jour-
nal Die Kunstfiir Alle, offered this telling
characterizationof Impressionism:"poverty,
emptiness,and lack of imaginationis its par-
ticular condition because it mistakes nature
for art and ugliness for beauty."7The critic
FritzBley,writingin the samejournal,described
the Naturalist author Emile Zola and the
Impressionistpainter EdouardManet, both
Frenchmen,as "pedantsof smut and trivial-
ity" because they depicted distinctly urban,
gritty subject matter,and were seen to have
infectedGermansocietywith theirwritingand
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
painting.8For Germansto emulateworks such Figure 2
Hubert Lanzinger
as Manet'sI879 Cafr-Concert,which depicts
women of ill-repute drinking, smoking, and (German; 1880-1950).
The Flag Bearer,
dancingfor their malecustomers,would have c. 1937.Oil on canvas;
beento repudiatetheiridealistpast.
152.4 x 152.4 cm
In the secondpartof his immenseHistory (6o x 6o in.). Army
of Paintingin the Nineteenth Century(1894), Art Collection,
RichardMuthertook a differentapproachto U.S. Army Center
the problem of French influence, offering a of Military History.
lengthytributeto NaturalismandImpression-
ism. He closed his third and final volume,
however,with apanegyricto the German"Neo-
Idealists," whom he claimed were the true
artistsof the future.His dissatisfaction
with the
Naturalistportrayalof "modernlife,"be it in
Manet'spaintingsor Zola'snovels,was due to
its focus on "anexclusivelyoutwardtruth...
merereality."'Insteadof nakedexteriorreality,
Mutherargued,"thelong-repressedlife of the
inwardspiritneededexpression,andthe emo-
tions rebelledagainstscience . . . the Realists
painted modern life, and the New Idealists,
supplementingthem, painted modern emo-
tion."10Muther felt that Naturalism should
no longerbe seen as the aimof art,but as "'the
sound trainingschool' fromwhich to riseinto
far-offrealmsof fantasticcreation."11 Farfrom
27
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY

B6cklin's dreamlikelandscapesand raucous

Figure 3 vilifying Naturalism, he recast it as a neces-
Hans Thoma
sarystep,followedby the transitionalphaseof
(German; 1839-1924).
Impressionism,in the ultimate evolution of
The Guardian of the
paintingto its perfectedstate:Neo-Idealism.
Valley, 1898. Color
Unlike Pecht and Bley, Mutherco-opted the
lithograph on tan
wove paper; image French competition and wove it seamlessly
46.7 x 33.9 cm (i83/8 x into a largernarrativeof aestheticevolutionand
133/8in.), sheet 53.8 x Germantriumph.
41.3 cm (21Y8 X 16'Y4
Personality,individuality,creativity,and a
in.). Anonymous loan
poetic sensibility-all were regardedas proto-
(1380.1930).
typical Germantraits,and ones that B6cklin
and Klingerpossessedin abundance.(Despite
the fact that B6cklin was Swiss, Avenarius
and other critics adopted him as German.)
sea pictureswere describedas distinctlyGer-
man by those who focused on their inventive
content and on what, as a result of the artist's
own imaginativeprojections,they "emoted."
While heralded as a "modern idealist" who
reinvented Greek and German mythology
for a new age, B6cklinwas also celebratedfor
his originality; Muther, for instance, pro-
claimed that "with B6cklin, who instead of
illustrating mythology himself creates it, a
new power of inventing myths was intro-
duced."12 As an originator of mythic para-
digms,B6cklin,like the philosopherFriedrich
Nietzsche and the composer Wagner,was
modern not in spite of-but because of--his
ability to reinvent the past in the service of
the present.
B6cklin's peculiar blend of landscape,
myth, and modern life is evident in his 1883
painting In the Sea (see cat. no 4), which the
artisthimself called Caft-Concertin the Sea.
Seeminglyworldsapartfromthe everydayreal-
ities of Manet'sCafr-Concert,these jubilant
sea creatureswere condemnedas "ugly"and
"deformed"by criticsin the i88os, and today
appear strikingly goofy.13 But by the I89os,
when critical tastes were shifting in favor of
Neo-Idealism, these same pictures became
beloved by Germansand did more than per-
hapsany of B6cklin'sworksto ensurehis over-
whelming success. Described as "thought-
paintings,"images such as these showed the
artist'spoetic,imaginativeconceptionof nature,
inspiredby the Hellenicantiqueandthe exam-
ple of Romantic predecessors such as the
painter Mortiz von Schwind.14While tritons
and naiads originated in Greek mythology,
B6cklin illustrated not particular myths or
texts, but ratheran ecstatic,openly sexualcel-
ebration of play. In the Sea depicts buxom
naiads and bloated tritons that sing along to
music playedon a harp.The work presentsa

28
 NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY

strangemixture of Nibelungen underworld, Germanicmedium,the intaglioprint,and the Figure 4

the Wagnerianspirit of music, and the then
distinctly French notion of the cafe-concert
(or cabaret)as popularizedin the prints and
paintingsof EdgarDegasandManet.Paintings
such as this represented what Neo-Idealist
criticsfelt to be the deeprelationshipsbetween
the ecstatic, Dionysian effects of Germanic
music,particularlyWagnerianmusic, and the
mythic creaturesthat livedin the sea."1
Klinger,for hispart,reinvigorated another
form of Germanic cultural patrimony: the
print. Critics and historianson either side of
the politicalspectrumcalledon artiststo exer-
cise "freedom"and "imagination," both quali-
ties seen as intrinsicto the etchingprocess,to
revivean inherentlynationalart emulativeof
Diirer and Rembrandt,who were at the time
both internationallyrenowned as "fathers"
of modern printmaking.16 The link between
what was then positioned as a distinctly
revivalof the painter-printmakerin the per- Max Klinger
(German, 1857-1920).
son of Klinger,had a special significancefor
Abandoned, Plate 5
German artists and cultural commentators.
from the series A Life
But Klinger'sreception had not always been
(Opus 8), 1884.Color
positive.In 1884he publishedhis graphicport- etching and aquatint
folio A Life (Opus 8) (Klinger favored the on ivory wove paper;
designation"Opus,"a term generallyused to plate 31.9 x 45.3 cm
number musical compositions, to name his (12V2 x 177/ in.), sheet
37 x 53.4 cm (145/8 x
portfolios).A seriesof fifteenetchings,A Life 21 in.). Mr. and Mrs.
chroniclesthe fate of a woman who is sexu-
Philip Heller, Jeffrey
ally awakened and then abandoned by her Shedd and Prints and
lover.Bereftand "impure,"she turns to pros- Drawings Purchase
titution, a choice that ultimately leaves her Funds; Joseph Brooks
ostracized and ridiculed by society. While Fair and Everett
Graff Endowments;
Klingerpaid homageto the GermanRoman-
through prior acquisi-
tic past in works such as Abandoned (fig. 4), tions of the Carl O.
whose lone figure on the seashore recalls Schniewind Collection
CasparDavid Friedrich'spainting Monk by (1992.757).
the Sea (1809-o0; Berlin, Schloss Charlotten-
burg),the series'engagementwith controversial

29
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM,
Figure 5
Max Klinger.
On the Tracks,Plate 8
from the series On
Death, Part i, 1889.
Etching and aquatint
on cream wove paper;
plate 26.5 x 18.7 cm
(103/8 X 73/8 in.), sheet
x 31.1 cm (217/s x
555.
12/4in.).GiftofJack
Daulton (2000. 115).
30
AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
socialissues--religion, industrialization,rela-
tions between the sexes, and prostitution-
singled it out for criticism. Klinger'svision,
largelyinspiredby his readingof FrenchNatu-
ralistwriterssuchas GustaveFlaubertandZola,
promptedthe curatorAlfredLichtwarkto dub
the artist"dangerous,""awild animalin need
of harnessing.'"17
By the mid-I89os, however,Klingerhad
been transformedinto a shining exemplarof
Teutonicindividualism,due to both a shift in
his imageryand to his own writings. In 1889
the criticaltide beganto turnwith the appear-
anceof his seriesOn Death, PartI (Opus II),
in which Klinger left Naturalism and social
commentarybehind, and seems to havecon-
sciously repositionedhimself as an inheritor
of Germantradition.On Death, Part I con-
sists of ten plates,eachof which envisionsthe
ephemeralnature of life and the suddenness
of death,elementsthatpromptedone criticto
call the series a modern "Dance of Death.""1
Indeed, prints such as On the Tracks(fig. 5)
modernizetraditionalfifteenth-andsixteenth-
century print cycles in which Death appears
dancing with the living as a symbol of their
inevitabledemise. In this print Klingertrans-
lated such themes into contemporarysociety,
placing the figure of Death on the railroad
tracksto awaitan approachingtrain.Withthe
appearanceof this series,arthistorianssuch as
Wilhelm von Bode began to praise Klinger's
etchings as manifestationsof a truly national
spirit.19EvenPecht,a formeropponent,changed
his tunecompletely,saying:"One hardlyover-
statesit when one callshim [Klinger]the most
outstandingcomposer with the etching nee-
dle that we have produced since Rembrandt
and Diirer."20
Another importantfeaturein this critical
reappraisalwas the publication of Klinger's
own manifesto-likebook in i891. In this trea-
tise, Painting and Drawing, he attemptedto
revive the print as a national art form while
stillmaintainingits statusas a vehiclefor social
criticism.21The artistalsosuggestedthe medium
as the most suitableway to depictthe world of
fantasy,imagination,andpoetry.Unlike paint-
ing,which uses color to replicatenature,draw-
ing-or Griffelkunst, to use Klinger's term
for all original,drawnmedia,includingprints
and drawings-stood for a freer relationship
to the outside world, one that privilegedcre-
ativity and subjectivity. Not surprisingly,
KlingerdescribedDiireras the Griffelkiinstler
par excellence. Because Diirer revealed his
personality in his art, Klinger claimed, he
departedfrom the realworld and insteadsaw
with his own imagination, with an "inner
eye,"creatinga spiritualworld akinto poetry.22
In his text, Klinger also explored the notion
of the Gesamtkunstwerk,or the total work of

art,whichhe realizedformallyin his nextport-
folio, Brahms Fantasies (1898), a series that
exploredthe interconnectednessof literature,
music, and visualart.23
TheperiodbetweenKlinger'sandB6cklin's
elevationto artisticgeniusduringthe 189osand
theirfall into obscurityin the wake of Expres-
sionism'sascendanceis epitomized by Julius
Meier-Graefe's book TheCaseofBocklin(1905).
The philosopher Nietzsche, in The Case of
Wagner(1888),denounced the composer for
commercialismand panderingto the masses,
and the art historian Meier-Graefeendicted
B6cklin on the same charge.24The critical
endorsementof B6cklin'sart had born fruit,
and by this time his works had grown so fash-
ionable that reproductionsof B6cklin paint-
ings hadbecomean indispensibleaccessoryfor
the bourgeoishome.25Printssuch as Klinger's
reproductiveetchingafterB6cklin'simmensely
popularpaintingIsle of the Dead (fig. 6) were
commissioned by B6cklin's dealer Fritz
Gurlitt,andphotographicreproductionsof his
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
Figure 6
Max Klinger.
TheIsle of the Dead,
afterB6cklin,i89o.
Etching and aquatint
on ivory wove paper;
plate 61.3 x 77.2 cm
(io3/8x 73/8 in.), sheet
67.7 x 89.1 cm (265/ x
35A in.). Gift of Jack
Daulton (2ooo.III).
paintingswere issued by the thousands.Hav-
ing appealedto the masses,it seems, B6cklin,
Klinger,andthe Neo-Idealist style they repre-
sentedhad become too accessible,too kitschy
and, in the wake of Expressionist ideology
(which promoted the anti-bourgeois,ecstatic
vision of the Germanavant-garde)downright
old-fashioned.26
The same year that Meier-Graefe pub-
lished The Case of B6cklin,a group of artists
unitedunderthe nameKiinstlergruppe Briicke
(The Artists' Group Bridge).The Brticke,an
association that would eventually draw on
Neo-Idealist discourse to support its own
cause,eventuallycome to embodythe aesthetic
known as Expressionism. Its four founding
members-Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst
LudwigKirchner,and KarlSchmidt-Rottluff-
were architecturalstudents at the Technische
Hochshulein Dresden. The group eventually
grew to include Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein,
and others. Frustrated by the conservative
tenorof the government-run Germanacademic
31
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM,
Figure 7
Erich Heckel
(German; 1883-1970).
Two Seated Women,
1912. Color woodcut,
with monotype inking,
on tan wove paper;
image 29.8 x 29.6 cm
(113/4x I5/8 in.), sheet
39.1 x 52.7 cm (I53/s x
203/4in.). Anonymous
gift (1948.41).
32
AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
system, as were those who had formed the
Berlin Secession seven years prior,these art-
ists pledgedto work collaborativelyand com-
munally to present a new art to society, one
bornout of a freshsenseof creativity.
Although,
as we will see, the label "Expressionism"is
itself problematic, its German practitioners
before 1914were characterizedby theiruse of
brightcolors and theirsimplificationof form.
Criticsdescribedasthemovement's mostimpor-
tant and unifying trait its artists' emotive,
spiritualapproachto art, an ability to release
the expressivepotential of subjective, inner
sensations (which Klinger referredto as the
"innereye").
To markthe occasionof theirfirstexhibi-
tion in 1906,the Briickememberswrote a pro-
gramin whichthey statedtheiraims,declaring:
"Withfaithin evolution,in a new generationof
creatorsand applicators,we call together all
youth.And asyouths,who embodythe future,
we want to free our lives and limbs from the
long-establishedolder powers."27 These mes-
sianicwords stressedevolution,freedom,and
youthfulness,a call to authenticcreativityand
a break from the past. Steeped in the phil-
osophy of Nietzsche and the evolutionary
beliefs of social Darwinism (as were Klinger
and B6cklin),the Briickeartistsstroveto pre-
senta dynamicmessage,bothwrittenandvisual,
that would spur a desire to change the hide-
boundinstitutionsof Germanartandshockthe
stodgybourgeoisie.
This philosophymanifesteditselfnot only
in words and images, but also in a collective
approachto the creativeprocess.These artists
livedandworkedtogether,often sharingmod-
els andstudioprops,andwenton tripsin search
of "pure,""untainted"natural settings that
enabled them to enact the physical and sex-
ual emancipationtheir art encouraged. One
such place was the Island of Fehmarnoff the
northern coast of Germany, where Heckel
and Kirchnertraveledin the summerof 1912.
During this period of collaboration,Heckel
createdthewoodcutTwoSeatedWomen(fig.7),
which representstwo nudes in the open air,
relaxingamongthe rocksby the shore.The raw
quality of the woodcut's execution, Heckel's
unevenapplicationof monotype ink onto the
block, and the stylized featuresof the bathers
and their surroundingsepitomize the Briicke
style-a formalextensionof the opennessand
emotivenessthey promotedthroughtheir life
and writings. Indeed, the nude was a central
motif for Briicke artists, and suggests their
connectionto a waveof anti-urbanreformini-
tiativessproutingup all over Germanyat the
time. Groups such as the Free Youth Move-
ment, founded in 1906,revoltedagainstwhat
they regarded as the bourgeois prudery of
Wilhelmine society and its polluted, urban
lifestyle,opting insteadfor a returnto nature,
nudity,and a life of physicalfitness.28
 NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY

The Briicke'sdevotionto natureandtheir

supposedly radicalstance against the bour-
geoisie did not preclude, however, a strong
desireto exhibitand sell theirworks in urban
centers.By 1910o, many of the initialmembers
had moved to Berlin,and sought patronsand
prestigioussettingsto promotetheirwork.One
suchvenuewas the BerlinSecession.Founded
in 1898 by MaxLiebermann(seecat.no. 5) and
WalterLeistikow, this group of artists defi-
antly broke from the government-runBerlin
Akademieder Kiinstebecausetheirwork was
repeatedlyrejectedfor public exhibition.The
Akademieheld a virtualmonopoly on the dis-
play and sale of art in Germany'scapitaluntil
the I89os,andthese rejectedartistsdecidedto
createtheir own artist-runexhibitingsociety.
But in 90Iothe Berlin Secession jury
itself chose to rejectworks submittedby the
ExpressionistartistsHeckel, Kirchner,Nolde,
Pechstein,and Schmidt-Rottluff.This rebuff
promptedthe Expressioniststo found a rival
exhibitingsociety,which they calledthe New
Secession. Even though these young artists
aimed to present revolutionarywork, many
critics viewed their art as derivative:Erich
Vogeler,for instance,claimedthat "the New
Secessiondoes not reallybreakfrom the ideas Frencharton Germancultureandthe artmar- Figure 8

of the Secession.... exceptfor two differences,
they arelackinga leaderand originalideas."29
"Whatwe see"he continued,"arealltoo direct
suggestionsand often misleadingimitationsof
Cezanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Munch, and,
not to be forgotten,Matisse."30 Vogeler'sbelief
thatthe New Secessionartists"lackedoriginal
ideas" and "imitated"their French, Dutch,
and Norwegian contemporariessuggeststhe
broaderway in which criticsregardedthis new
artisticmovement,like the work of Klingerin
the i880s,as moreforeignthannational.
Fueledin largepartby negativepresssur-
roundingthe Bricke and New Secessionart-
ists, anxietyover the detrimentalinfluenceof
ket reacheda point of crisis.In 1911the land- Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
(German; 1884-1976).
scapepainterCarlVinnen gavevoice to these
worriesin a smallbut enormouslyinfluential Kneeling Woman, 1914.
Woodcut on cream
book, Protestof GermanArtists.In this work, wove paper; image
Vinnenlaunchedan attackon what he termed 49.8 x 39.I cm (195/s x
"the great invasion of French art" into the 153/8in.), sheet 67.2 x
Germanmarket,unfairspeculationon medi- 48.3 cm (26 Y2x 19 in.).
Gift of the Estate
ocre pictures,and a new style of art inspired
of Dr. Rosa Schapire
by Frenchor French-trainedartists-namely
(1956.53).
Expressionism.Believingthat"apeopleis only
driven to great heights by artists of its own
flesh and blood," he feared that the ascen-
dancyof Frenchartmightthreatenthe "singu-
larityof our people [which]laysin otherareas,
depth,imagination,sensitivityof feeling,"and

33
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
Figure 9 "presenta greatdangerto our nation.""' Imag-
FranzMarc inationand emotivesensitivity,the very qual-
(German;1880-I916). ities for which critics praised Klinger and
TheBull, 1912.
B6cklin twenty years earlier,were now val-
Woodcuton ivory
orized by the xenophobicVinnen.
Japanpaper;image
15.9 x 22.1 cm (6 /4 X They were also, somewhat surprisingly,
83/4in.),sheet22.6 x soon embraced by his opponents, the pro-
30.2 cm (87/8x i7/8 in.). moters of Expressionism. On the heels of
PrintsandDrawings Vinnen'spiece, a group of artists,collectors,
MiscellaneousFund
critics,and curatorsissued a joint responseto
(1947.649).
his objectionsin a book entitledTheStruggle
for Art:TheAnswerto the 'Protestof German
Artists' (1911).32Authors included a virtual
who's who of Secessionistand Expressionist
artists and their supporters, including Paul
Cassirer,Kandinsky,Lichtwark,Liebermann,
Gustav Pauli, and Pechstein." One of the
writers,WilhelmWorringer,was an art histo-
rianwhose 19o8doctoral thesis, Abstraction
and Empathy, had become a virtual hand-
book for the Expressionists.34
In his essay,"TheHistoricalDevelopment
of ModernArt,"WorringercensuredVinnen's
theories of Frenchdecadenceand derivative-
ness. Instead,he describedExpressionismas
connectedto northern,Gothic impulsesthat
mediatedbetween abstractionand represen-
tation; like Avenarius in his promotion of
34
Klinger, Worringer defended a modern move-
ment by identifying northern, Gothic artists
as its forebears. Worringer claimed that while
Europeans had previously seen primitive art
as naive "simplification," "lacking skill" and
made of "grotesque distortion," they might,
with the example of Briicke artists, under-
stand it as emanating "from a higher level of
tension in the will to artistic expression. 35 By
learning to appreciate semiabstract, primitive
art, he suggested, people could liberate them-
selves from the trap of illusionism inherent in
Impressionism, and foster a "primitive way
of seeing, undisturbed by any knowledge or
experience."36
Any real access to the visual instincts and
vocabulary of primitive peoples, be they Gothic
or contemporary African, was, Worringer
admitted, a fiction and an impossibility. Nev-
ertheless, Expressionists gravitated toward
his passionate description of semiabstract
forms' instinctive creativity. In fact, they used
Worringer's argument to justify their own
abstract and mystical tendencies historically,
and to explain them as distinctly German.37
Schmidt-Rottluff's Kneeling Woman of 1914
(fig. 8) illustrates the Expressionists' combina-
tion of German and foreign primitive sources:
the artist's appreciation of African sculpture
is evident in the animal-based stool at left,
probably from the German colony of Cam-
eroon; the angular, broadly-conceived con-
tours of the woman's face are reminiscent of
African masks; and the piece's raw, woodcut
style recalls the crude execution of Northern
Renaissance prints.38
The artists of another branch of Expres-
sionism, the Munich-based Blaue Reiter, also
echoed Neo-Idealist rhetoric as they attempted
to articulate their own aesthetic principles
and goals. Founded in 1911 by the Russian
Kandinsky and the German Franz Marc, this
group was a loose affiliation of artists that
 NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY

included Paul Klee (see cat. no. 14), August

Macke, and Gabriele Miinter (see Makela,
fig. 14).Kandinskyand Marcstressedartistic
freedomand liberationfrom Impressionism's
emphasis on figural and naturalrepresenta-
tion, advocatinginsteadthe creationof images
that, like imaginative, supposedly abstract
'.•.
Bavarianfolk-glass paintings and fifteenth-
century woodcuts, penetrate and echo the
humanspirit.39 Theirmove towardan interior,
deeplypersonalinterpretationof externalphe-
nomenawas also stimulatedby certainaspects ;•,i'

of RomanticandNeo-Idealistaesthetics.In his
conception of nature,for example,Marcwas
greatlyindebtedto the RomanticartistsCaspar 15
1

David Friedrich and Phillip Otto Runge.

Marc'ssignatureimagesof animals(see fig. 9) tii

embodied his pantheisticworld view, and in

them he stroveto representthe mysticism of r
nature,oftencombiningabstractionandrepre-
sentation.As Marcwrote in 1912:"Todaywe
seek underthe veil of appearancesthingshid-
den in naturethat seem more importantthan
the discoveriesof the Impressionists."40
Kandinsky,in orderto promote his own
radicalmovetowardsabstraction,wrote exten-
sively on art, connecting it to the concept of
synesthesia.One seminalexampleof his syn- who likewise explored the expressive cor- Figure 10

esthetic imagery is Improvisation30 (Can- Max Pechstein

nons) (fig. ii), which takes its title from the
term for an extemporaneousmusicalcompo-
sition.Kandinskyhimselfdefined"improvisa-
tion,"in relationto his paintings,as a "largely
unconscious,spontaneousexpressionof inner
character."41In his ground-breaking book Con-
in Art
the
cerning Spiritual (1912), Kandinsky
outlinedhis theories,investigatinghow color,
form, representation,and abstractioneffect
creatorsandviewersof art.Partof theirimpact,
he argued,was the relationshipbetweensight
andsound-Kandinsky believedthatparticu-
lar colors elicitedsounds, and drew upon the
work of the Neo-IdealistsB6cklinandKlinger,
respondencesbetween music and visual art.
(German; I88I--955).
Kandinskyclaimedin 1912thatB6cklin"sought
The Dance (Dancers
for the 'inner'by way of the 'external.'"42
and Bathers at the
Despite their efforts to combat it, the Forest Pond), 1912.
specterof imitationstill hauntedthe Expres- Hand-colored litho-
sionists, and mainstreamcritics such as Karl graph on cream wove
Schefflercontinued to brandthem decadent paper; image 43.2 x
32.7 cm (17 x i278 in.),
copiersof Frenchart,with no new ideasof their
sheet 52.7 x 39.9 cm
own.As if timehadstoodstillsincethe critiques
(20 3/4X I53/4in.).
againstKlingerin the i88os, in 1913Scheffler Steuben Memorial
described Expressionist art as "infected by Fund (1936.332).
the bacteriaof revolution."43 Although images
suchasPechstein's Dance(Dancersand Bathers
at the ForestPond) (fig. io) were undoubtedly
influencedby Frenchworks,in this caseHenri

35
NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY
Matisse'spaintingDance (1910;Moscow,Her-
mitageMuseum),their formaldifferencesare
significant.44Pechstein'shand-colored litho-
graph,with its roughlydescribedtreesabove,
the colorfulcurveof the shore below, and the
staccatomovementsof its bathers,has an orig-
inality and freshnessall its own.
Hoping to turn the tide of "unoriginal"
associations,the Briickepublisheda "Chron-
icle"(1913),an autobiographical accountof the
group's own history. Kirchner, the author,
bathed his colleagues' art in the light of the
distant past, and carefullyremoved any hint
Figure 11
Vasily Kandinsky of Francophilicmimicry.The Briicke'smost
(French, born Russia; important influences, he claimed,were "old
i866-1944). Improv- printsfromNiirnberg[i.e.Diirer]";"Cranach,
isation 3o (Cannons),
Beham,andotherGermanmastersof the Mid-
1913. Oil on canvas;
dle Ages"; "Negro sculpture and South Sea
109.8x iiI cm (43/4 X
beamcarvingsstudiedin the [Dresden]ethno-
433/4 in.). Arthur
Jerome Eddy Memorial graphicmuseum";and "Etruscanart."45 Sig-
Collection, i931.511. nificantly,the artist avoided any mention of
36
recentEuropeanforebears,exceptto proclaim
that Expressionists were "uninfluenced by
contemporary currents, Cubism, Futurism,
etc."46The irony is, of course,that Kirchner's
projectwas strikinglysimilarto that of Neo-
Idealistssuchas AvenariusandKlinger,who, as
we haveseen, revivedthe printsof Diirer and
Cranachin orderto removefromNeo-Idealist
worksthe perceivedtaintof Frenchinfluence.
Kirchner'sliterarycampaignhelped fur-
ther define Expressionismas a Germanphe-
nomenon, and, by the publication of Paul
Fechter'sExpressionism(1914),the first book-
length study on the style, the association of
Expressionism with German cultural tradi-
tion seemsto havebecomefirmly entrenched.
Fechterdescribedthe work of both the Briicke
and Blaue Reiterartists as springingfrom an
inner,uniquely Germanicspiritualnecessity.
Their efforts,he maintained,were:
nothingnew,butthesamedrivethathasbeen
atworkin theGermanic worldsincetime
immemorial.It is theoldGothicsoul,which,in
spite the Renaissanceand of naturalism,con-
tinuesto live .... Expressionism,in allits different
guises,is basically onlytheliberationof inherent
spiritualenergies of thesoulfrom the bondageof
narrow-minded, crudeintellectualism.",
Like Mutherwith Neo-Idealism, criticssuch
as Fechter carefullyconstructed a history of
Expressionismas emergingfrom but eventu-
ally supercedingFrenchNaturalism,Impres-
sionism, Post-Impressionism, and Fauvism.
In arguingfor the continuedpresenceof "the
old Gothic soul" and the "mastersof the fif-
teenth century"in contemporaryart,Fechter
relied on the notion of a truly Germansensi-
bility-again, what Klingercalled the "inner
eye"-that revealeditself throughexpressions
of interiorspiritualismand subjectiveemotion.
Fechter, however, was careful to omit Neo-
 NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING OF ART HISTORY

Idealismfrom his narrativeof artisticevolu-

tion, perhapsbecauseExpressionism's modern
force would seem dampenedby any connec-
tion to the more conventional,realistic,and
academicart of B6cklin and Klinger.
For all its supposed avoidance of Neo-
Idealistprecedents,Expressionism'sreliance
on such nationalistrhetoricunderscoresthat
factthat,in manyways, it can be seen as Neo-
Idealism in new clothes. If we compare, for
example, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's wood-
cut Mourning Womenby the Sea (fig. 12) to
Klinger'sAbandoned (fig. 4), created thirty
yearsearlier,we cansee how the leitmotifof the
lonely, isolated figure by the shore endured.
Whilean imagesuchas MourningWomencer-
tainly holds distinct political connotations,
createdas it was on the eve of World WarI,
its connections to the Romantic and Neo- late-twentieth-centuryreactions to the uses Figure 12
Romanticpast areunmistakable. of artunderNational Socialism.With a seem- Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.
Mourning Women by
By the early 1920s, far from being hailed ingly selective consciousness, cultural com-
the Sea, 19I4.Woodcut
as politically radical, Expressionism had in mentatorsand art historiansalike have often
on cream wove paper;
fact suffereda fate similarto Neo-Idealism's. omitted what fails to fit their seamlessnarra-
image 39-5 x 49.8 cm
Criticsdenouncedthe movement,claimingit tives of aesthetic development and political (15/2 x 195/8 in.), sheet
had become bankrupt and devoid of mean- consistency. Bequeathed to us, such critical 47.3 x 62.4 cm (185/8 x

ing, strippedof its earlierrevolutionarypoten- fictions have both formed and obscured our 24 5/8in.). Gift of the
Print and Drawing Club
tial."8It appearsthat afterExpressionismhad senseof how Neo-IdealismandExpressionism
(1946.1040).
finally been acceptedinto "superficial"mid- relateto eachother,andwill remainin placeas
dle-class parlors and gained the support of long as our own generationremainsreluctant
the Germanart establishment,it-like Neo- to see the correspondencesbehindpictures.
Idealism-was accusedof havinglost its edge,
its political and spiritualmission. Writingin
1925, for example, Meier-Graefe claimed:
"Here Nolde or Schmidt-Rottluff,and there
Bocklin: those are the poles of one and the
sameconceptionof art."49
The story of the rivalrybetweenExpres-
sionismandNeo-Idealismis largelya taleof the
enterprise of art criticism, and reveals how
the writing of art history has negotiatedand
emerged from the conflicts of German his-
tory itself-be they late-nineteenth-century
anxieties over French cultural influence, or

37

41. Julius Schnorr von Caroisfeld, in Miiller-Tamm (note 39), p. 18; and Peter Cornelius,
quoted by William Vaughan, "Longing for the South," in Hartley (note 29), p. 302.
For more on the Nazarenes' appretiation of Raphael, see Jane Van Nimmen, "Friedrich
Schlegel's Response to Raphael in Paris," in Gabriel P. Weisberg and Laurinda S.
Dixon, eds., The Documented Image: Visions in Art History (Syracuse, 1987),PP. 319-33.-
42. They executed notable fresco projects in the aasaBareholdy from 1816 and the
Casino Massimo from 1818; see Vaughan (note 24), PP. 178-81.
43. Friedrich Schelling, On the Relation of the Creative Arts to Nature (1807), in
Eitner (note 13), p. 204.
44. For a description of this precise style, see Ludwig Richter, Lehenserinnerungen
eines deutschen Malers (Frankfurt, 1885), translated in Heinrich Sieveking, Fuseli to
Menzel: Drawings and Watercolors in the Age of Goethe, exh. cat. (Cambridge,
Mass., 1998), p. 24.
45. Diirer's Four Apostles are illustrated in Erwin Panofsky, The Life and Art of
Alhrecht Diirer, 4th ed. (Princeton, 1971), figs. 294-95. My interpretation of Nazarene
drawing techniques is indebted to Peter Mdrker and Margret Stuffmann, "Zu den
Zeichnungen der Nazarener," in Dorra et al. (note 33), esp. PP. 182-84; and Mudller-
Tamm (note 39), pp. 21-23. The Nazarenes used a pencil that was invented in 1795 by
Jacques Louis Cont6. It consisted of graphite powder and clay instead of a lead point,
and was closer to the modern-day pencil, enabling artists to work with greater preci-
sion. See Sieveking (note 44), p. 24.
46. Schnorr von Carolafeld, quoted by Mdrker and Stuffmann (note 45), p. 181.
47. Friedrich Overbeck, quoted in Miiller-Tamm (note 39), pp. 14, 23. Overbeck
wrote that only certain biblical subjects were suitable for his purposes, consciously
rejecting any stories that involved large crowds and dramatic action.
48. A related print, Saint Philipp Neri, was based on Diirer's 1526 engraving Saint
Philipp. These two prints, together with two others from 1826, were the only etch-
ings Overbeck ever made. For an illustration of the Dsirer, see Panofsky (note 45),
fig. 291; for Saint Philipp Neri see Griffiths and Carey (note 23), p. I86.
49. Franz Pforr to his guardian, Johann David Passavant, quoted in Keith Andrews,
The Nazarenes: A Brotherhood of German Painters in Rome (Oxford, 1964), p. 25.
5o. Goethe's earlier play Gdtz von Berlichingen (1773), which recreated the age of
Luther and Diirer through the deeds of a heroic sixteenth-century knight, became a
favorite text among the Romantics and was illustrated by Pforr.
5i. For illustrations of Cornelius's engravings (1817-21) see Griffiths and Carey
(note 23), PP. 178-79; a good general source for discussions of the Nihelungenlied in
German art is Ulrich Schulte Wiilwer, Das Nihelungenlied in dec deutschen Kunst
des 19. und20. Jarhhunderts (Giessen, 1980).
52. Inken Nowald suggested that since no illustrated manuscripts of the Nihelun-
genlied existed, many artists used a repertoire of Christian motifs and poses, thereby
"sacralizing" the myth. See Inken Nowald, Die Nihelungen/reshen von Julius
Schnorr von Carols/eld im Kdnigshau der Miinchener Residenz 1827-1867 (Kiel,
1978), p. i1. Nowald also discussed and reproduced the drawings related to the Art
Institute's print; see ibid., pp. 276-77.
53. In his tract Oiber Sitte, Mode und Kleidertrachc (Frankfurt 1814), Arndt pro-
posed this costume as an anti-French statement that proclaimed the ideals of
German unity and liberty. By 1820 the cloak was outlawed in several states;
Friedrich, who was a friend of Arndt, defiantly included it in most of his paintings
following the Napoleonic defeat in 1814.
54. "New German Religious Patriotic Art" criticized the Nazarenes and Friedrich,
and appeared in the Allgemeine Zeicung, July 23, 1819. An article in Kunstblatt (Oct.
5, 1820) compared the Fohr print to Diirer's engraved portrait of his best friend,
Willibald Pirckheimer, which is reproduced in Panofsky (note 45), fig. 303. See
Griffiths and Carey (note 23), pp. 181-84, for more information about this portrait
and the work of Amsler and Carl Barth. Fohr had moved to Italy in 1816 from
Heidelberg, where he was a member of the university student society, the Teuconen,
and a keen medievalist.
55. Illustrations for the complete series can be found in Renate Langenfelder, "Soon-
tagsspaziergang durchs Salzburgische," WeltKunsc 6o, 7 (Apr. I, 1990), pp. 1044-49-
Griffiths and Carey (note 23) reproduced every lithograph except for Monday and
on pp. 209-13.
Thursday
56. The titles are Olivier's; see Griffiths and Carey (note 23), p. 209. For an illustra-
tion of the Keystone, see ibid., fig. i35i.
57. Peter Mlrker, "'Selig sind die niche sehen und doch glauben': zur nazarenischen
Landscahftsauffassung Ferdinand Oliviers," Stddel-Jahrhuch 7 (1979), P. 194. Ludwig
Grote identified the figures in the Dedication in Die Briider Olivier und die deutsche
Romancik (Berlin, 1938), pp. 217-18.
CLARKE, "NEO-IDEALISM, EXPRESSIONISM, AND THE WRITING
OF ART HISTORY," PP. 25-37.
A portion of this essay was presented at the February, 1999 College Are Association
conference in Los Angeles. Research for the article was funded in part by a German
Academic Exchange (DAAD) Post-Doctoral Research Grant. My thanks go to
Jenny Anger, Marcia Brennan, Charles W Haxehausen, Maria Makela, and Greg
NOTES
Nosan for their insightful comments and suggestions. While I am indebted to Carols
Kupfer for her assistance with particularly thorny phrases, all translations, unless
otherwise noted, are my own.
i. The Nazis confiscated the painted version of Winter Night in Moonlight (igi9)
as "degenerate are" from the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Magdeburg. It is now in
the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and is reproduced in Horst Uhr,
Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts (New York,
1982), p. 103.
2. For example, Peter Selz, the eminent are historian and curator who was forced to
flee Nazi Germany, described the Expressionist artist in his seminal book German
Expressionist Painting as one who "rejects tradition, especially that of the most immedi-
ate past." See Peter Selz, German Expressionist Painting (Berkeley, 1957), p. vi. For
more on Selz's significant scholarly contributions, see Dore Asheon, "Homage to
Peter Selz," in Paul J. Karlstrom and Dore Ashton, Cross-Currents in Modern Arc: A
Tribute to Peter Selz (New York, 2000), p. 14.
3. See Robin Lenman, Artists and Society in Germany, 1850-1914 (Manchester,
1997), p. 94; Lynn H. Nicholas, The Rape ofEuropa: The Fate ofEurope's Treasures
in the Third Reich and the Second World War (New York, 1994), p. 32; Jonathan
Peeropoulos, The Faustian Bargain: The Arc World in Nazi Germany (New York,
2000), pp. 30-33, 96-97; and Franz Zelger, Arnold Bdchlin, Die Toceninsel (Frank-
furt, 1991), pp. 8-io.
4. Although beyond the scope of this essay, German Impressionism also shared
important connections with Germany's idealist and Romantic past. See Jay A. Clarke,
"The Construction of Artistic Identity in Turn-of-the-Century Berlin: The Prints of
Klinger, Kollwiez, and Liebermano" (Ph.D. diss., Brown University, 1999), chap. 3.
5. Naturalism, broadly speaking, is a style of are that depicts its subjects in a realistic
manner, and tends to favor scenes from the everyday lives of working people. While
Impressionism emerged from Naturalism, it represented nature and modern life in a
far less precise manner, taking liberties with color and facture.
6. Jules Laforgue, "Le Salon de Berlin," Gazette des beaux-arts 28 (1883), p. 172.
7. Vom Herausgeber [Friedrich Peche], "Uber den heucigens franzijsischen Impres-
sionismus," Die Kunst/iir Ale 2 (1887), p. 338.
8. Fritz Bley, "Ednuard Manee,"Zeitschrift/iir hildende Kunst 19 (1883-84), pp. 241-52,
as quoted in Robert Jensen, Marketing Modernism in Fin-de-Sifcle Europe (Prince-
ton, 1994), p. 202
9. Richard Muther, The History of Modern Painting, rev. ed., trans. A. C. Hillier
(London, 1896), vol. 3, p. 546.
io. Ibid., p. 551.
ii. Ibid.
12. Ibid., p. 235.
13. GeorgVofi, "Ausseellungen,Ssmmlungen, etc.," Die KunstfiirAlle 3 (1887-88), p. 96.
14. For more on the iconographic connections between Bdcklin and von Schwind,
see Andrea Linnebach, Arnold Bdchlin und die Antihe: Mythos, Geschichce, Gegen-
wart (Munich, 1990), pp. 42-54.
i1. For more on the issue of Bijcklin and antiquity, see ibid. Regarding the uneasy
relationship between Wagner and Bdcklin, consult Elizabeth Tumasonis, "Biicklin
and Wagner: The Dragon Slain," Pantheon 44 (1986), pp. 87-91.
16. Klinger began working consistently on printmaking in the early i88os and was
soon considered the originator of the German etching revival. For more on Klinger's
reception see Clarke (note 4), chap. I; and Elizabeth Pendleton Streicher, "'Zwischen
Klingers Ruhm und seiner Leiseung': Max Klingers Kunse im Spiegel dec Kritik,
in Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker and Tilman Falk, edo., Max Klinger: Zeich-
1877-1920,"
nungen, Zuscandodruche, Zyhlen (Munich, 1996), pp. 45-55.
17. Alfred Lichewark, "Die akademioche Kunseausstellung IV," Gegenwart 26
(1884), p. 238. For other criticisms see Max Klinger, Brie/e von Max Klinger aus den
Jahren 1874 his 1919, ed. Hand Wolfgang Singer (Leipzig, 1924), p. 57. Friedrich's
Monk by the Sea is reproduced in Joseph Leo Koerner, Caspar David Friedrich and
the Suhject ofLandscape (New Haven, 1990), p. 168.
18. Franz Hermann Meissner, Max Klinger (Berlin, 1899), pp. 92-93.
ig. Wilhelm von Bode, "Berliner Malerradirer: Max Klinger, Ernst Moritz Geyger,
Stauffer-Bern," Die graphischen Kiinste 12 (1890), pp. 45-60.
20. E[riedrich] PEeche], "Miinchen," Die Kunst/iirAlle 6 (1891), p. 207.
21. Max Klinger, Malerei und
Zeichnung (Leipzig, 1891). For two recent articles on
this treatise, see Marsha Morton, "'Mslerei und Zeichnung': The History and Context
I I
of Tlinger's Guide en the Arts," Zeischrz//iir Ku.ns-geschiche 8 pp. 542-69;
and Elizabeth Streiker, "Max Klinger's 'Malerti und Zeichnung': The Critical
Reception of the Prints and Their Text," in Frantoise Forseer-Haho, ed., Imagining
Modem German Culture, 1889-1910 (Washington, D.C., 1996), pp. 229-46.
22. Klinger (note 21), p. 9.
23. Brahms ~Fantasiesis reproduced in Danzker and Falk (note i6), pp. 142-43.
24. The previous year Meier-Graefe, who was a tireless supporter of French
Impressionist are, published his important book Modern Arc (1904). Here he claimed
that Bijcklin "lies like a log in the way of the fumure... he hangs upon our wings like
a heavy colossus and threatens en drag us down lower than we have ever been." A few
 NOTES

pageslaterMeier-Graefedenounced Klinger'setchings as "merecombinationsof 2. Se , for example, Walter Benjamin: "Surrealism: The Last Snapshot of the Euro-
details."See idem,ModernArt:Beinga Contributionto a New Systemof Aesthetics, pean Intelligentsia" (1929), in Michael W.Jennings, Howard Eiland, and Gary Smith,
trans.FlorenceSimmonsand GeorgeW Chrystal(London,1908),vol. 2, pp. 133,I43. eds., Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings (Cambridge, Mas ., 19 9), vol. 2,

25. See Lenman(note 3), p. 94; andJiirgenWifiman,"ZumNachlebender Malerei p. 207-24; Theodor W. Adorno, "Looking Back on Surrealism" (0956), in Irving
ArnoldBocklins,"in ArnoldBocklin,1827-190O(Diisseldorf,1974),pp. 28-29. Howe, ed., The Idea of the Modern in Literature and the Arts (New York, 1967),
26. See Lenman(note 3), p. 94. p. 2 0-24; and Helmut Lethen, Neue Sachlichkeit, 1924-1932: Studien zur Litera-
27. As quotedandtranslatedin ReinholdHeller,Brikke:GermanExpressionist Prints tur des 'Wei/3en Sozialismus' (Stut gart, 1970).
from the GranvilandMarciaSpecksCollection,exh.cat.(Evanston,Ill., 1988),p. 15. 3. On the ten-year anniversary of mobilization and the intense debate that it pro-
28. SeeJillLloyd, GermanExpressionism: Primitivismand Modernity(New Haven, voked in Germany on the is ues of war and heroism, se Dora Apel, "'Heroes' and

1991), pp. and ibid.,p. 6. 'Whores': The Politics of Gender in Weimar Antiwar Imagery," Art Bulletin 74, 3
lO6-1o;
29. ErichVogeler,"Die 'Neue Secession,'"Der Kunstwart23 (I910), p. 314. (Sept. 19 7), P- 36 -84.
30. Ibid.,p. 315- 4. On this se Michael Hagner, "Verwundete Gesichter, verletzte Gehirne. Zur

31. This quotation was combined from severalsources:Carl Vinnen,Ein Protest Deformation des Kopfes im Ersten Weltkrieg," in Claudia Schmolders and Sander L.
deutscherKiinstler (Jena, 1911),p. 8; Rose Carol Washton-Long, ed., German Gilman, eds., Gesichter der Weimarer Republik: Eine physiognomische Kultur-
Expressionism: Documentsfrom the End of the WilhelmineEmpireto the Rise of geschichte (Cologne, 20 0), pp.78-95.
National Socialism(New York, 1993),p. 8; and Peter Paret, The Berlin Secession: 5. Other commonly used labels are "Neo-Naturalism," "New Naturalism," "New
Modernismand Its Enemiesin ImperialBerlin(Cambridge,1980),p. 184.For more Realism," "Verism," "Magic and Realism."
on Vinnen see Paret, pp. 182-99. 6. Franz Roh, Nach-Expressionismus: Magischer Realismus, Probleme der neuesten

32. Im Kampf um die Kunst:Die Antwort auf den 'Protest deutscherKiinstler' europaischen Malerei (Leipzig, 1925), p. 1 9.
(Munich, 1911). 7. Gustav Hartlaub, "Zum Geleit," in Mannheim, Stadtische Kunsthalle, 'Neue Sachlich-
33. Around 1911the term "Expressionism"was just emergingin the critical dis- keit': Deutsche Malerei seit dem Expressionismus, exh. cat. (1925); as translated in Peter
course,and was not yet considereda purely Germanphenomenon.It includedthe Nisbet, German Realist Drawings of the z920s, exh. cat. (Cambridge, Mas ., 1986), p. 1.
workof Matisse,the Brticke,Post-Impressionists, Futurists,andCubists,andreferred 8. Max Doerner, The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting: With Notes
not to formalcohesivenessbut to a commonalityof subjective,emotive,andindivid- on the Techniques of the Old Masters, trans. Eugen Neuhaus (New York, 1934).
ualisticapproach. 9. Georg Scholz to Theodor Kiefer, Sept. Georg
24, 1924. Scholz Estate, Waldkirch;
34. GeoffreyPerkins,Contemporary Theoryof Expressionism (Bern,1974),p. 47. For as cited in Dennis Crockett, German Post-Expressionism: The Art of the Great
moreon Worringerandhis role in the criticalformationand "demise"of Expression- Disorder, igi8-I924 (University Park, Pen ., 19 9), p. 120.

ism, see CharlesW.Haxthausen,"ACriticalIllusion:'Expressionism' in the Writings io. Georg Scholz, "Die Elemente zur
Erzielung der Wirkung im Bilde," Das
of Wilhelm Hausenstein," in Rainer Rumold and O. K. Werkmeister,eds., The Kunstblat 8 (1924), p. 7 -80.
IdeologicalCrisisof Expressionism: TheLiteraryand ArtisticGermanWarColonyin i.
George Grosz to Georg Scholz, Aug. 18, 1924. Georg Scholz Estate, Waldkirch;
Belgium1914-1918(Columbia,S.C., 1990),pp. 169-91;andidem, "ModernArt after as cited in Crockett (note 9), p. 57.
'TheEnd of Expressionism': Worringerin the 1920s," in Neil Donahue,ed., Invisible 12. For specific examples se
Birgit Schwarz, "'Ot o Hans Baldung Dix' malt die
Cathedrals:The ExpressionistArt History of WilhelmWorringer(UniversityPark, Grofistadt: Zur Rezeption der altdeutschen Malerei," in Stut gart, Galerie der Stadt,
Penn.,1995),pp. 119-34- Ot o Dix Zum lo . Geburtstag i89i-z991, exh. cat. (19 1), p. 229-38.
35. Washton-Long(note 31),p. .II 13. Leopold Zahn, "Miinchner Ausstellungen," Der Cicerone 12
(May 1920), p. 285;
36. Ibid.,pp. 11-12. as cited in Crockett (note 9), p. I.
37. Perkins(note 34),PP. 54-56. 14. Kenneth E. Silver, Esprit de Corps: The Art of the Parisian Avant-Garde and the
38. My thanksto KathleenBickfordBerzock,AssociateCuratorof AfricanArt at First World War, 1914-1925 (London, 1989).
The Art Instituteof Chicago, for identifyingthe region of Africawhere this stool 15. Dennis Crockett was
particularly cogent on this throughout his richly docu-
was made.The associativepower of this printas emblematicof the Briickestyle was mented German Post-Expressionism (note 9), in which he outlined in detail the crit -
amplifiedby its use as an illustrationin the sixthNew Secessionexhibitioncatalogue. cal origins of New Objectivity.
Suchpublicationsactedas advertisementsfor aestheticbeliefsthat extendedbeyond 16. Kokoschka's appeal, as wel as the response described below, were
published in
the exhibitionspaceat GalerieMacht. John Heartfield and George Grosz, "Der Kunstlump," Der Gegner I, 10-12 (1920),
39. VasilyKandiskyand Fanz Marc,eds.,Der BlaueReiter(Munich,1912). P- 48-56; translated as "The Art Scab" in Anton Kaes, Martin Jay, and Edward
40. StephanieBaronand Wolf-DieterDube, eds., GermanExpressionism: Art and Dimendberg, eds., The Weimar Republic Sourcebook (Berkeley, 19 4), p. 483-86.
Society(New York, 1997), p. 331.For more on Marc and Romanticismsee Carla The controversy and its impact on Otto Dix in particular was described in some

Schulz-Hoffmann,"FranzMarcund die Romantik,"in Rosel Golleck,Franz Marc, detail by Ulrich Weitz, "Kriegskriippel, Kapp-Putsch und Kunstlump-Debatte," in
1880-I9i6 (Munich,1980),pp. 95-99. Stut gart (note 12), p. 95-10 .
41. VivianEndicottBarnett,"Kandinsky,"in JaneTurner,ed., GroveDictionaryof I7T Kaes, Jay, and Dimendberg (note 16), p. 485.
Art (New York,1996),vol. 17,p. 763- 18. George Grosz, Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield, and Rudolf Schlichter, "Die
42. VasilyKandinsky,Concerningthe Spiritualin Art (New York,1972),p. 36. Gesetze der Malerei," Hannah Hoch: Eine Lebenscollage I (Berlin/Ostfildern, 1989),
43. KarlScheffler,"DieJiingsten,"KunstundKiinstler11(1913),p. 407- vol. 2, p. 696-98; as translated by Crockett (note 9), p. 48-49.
44. Matisse'sDanceis reproducedin KasparMonrad,ed.,HenriMatisse:FourGreat ig. Although Grosz wrote the es ay in November 1920, "Zu meinen neuen Bildern'
Collectors,exh. cat. (Copenhagen,1999),p. 52,no. 20. first appeared in Das Kunstblat 5 (1921), p. 1 -14. I quote here the statements on
p. 14.
45. Washton-Long(note 31),p. 24. 20.
George Grosz was
perhaps most suc inct on this when he commented that he
46. Ibid.,p. 25. was interested not in "conjuring up colorful expressionistic decorations of the soul
47. Ibid.,p. 84. [Seelentapeten] on canvas," but, rather, in control. "Control over line and form wil
48. Even Wilhelm Worringer,once a staunch supporter of Expressionism, had once
again be introduced.... The objectivity and clarity of the engineer's drawing is
renouncedit by 1921,claimingthat its failurewas due to its overtcommodification. a bet er model than the uncontrollable [expressionistic] mish-mash of cabbala, meta-
SeeWashton-Long(note 31),pp. 284-86. physics, and holy ecstacy." Ibid., p. 14.
49. KenworthMoffett,Meier-GraefeasArt Critic(Munich,1973),p. 148.For more 21. Helmut Lethen, Verhaltenslehre der Kdilte: Lebenversuche zwischen den Kriegen
on the contradictionsinherentin Expressionism,see ReinholdHeller,"Confronting (Frankfurt, 19 4). On the closely related fascination with the face and what it could
Contradictions: Artistsand theirInstitutionsin WilhelmineandWeimarGermany," say about character, se Schmolders and Gilman (note 4).
in idem,Art in Germany 190o9-1936: From Expressionismto Resistance,exh. cat. 2. Kaes, Jay, and Dimendberg (note 16) of er an excellent overview of the turbulent
(Munich, 199O), pp. 17-24. Weimar era in Germany.
23. Lyn e Frame, "Gretchen, Girl, Gargonne? Weimar Science and Popular Culture
MAKELA, "' A CLEAR AND SIMPLE STYLE': TRADITION AND in Search of the Ideal New Woman," in Katharina von Ankum, ed., Women in the
TYPOLOGY IN NEW OBJECTIVITY," PP. 39-51. Gender and Modernity in Weimar Culture (Berkeley,
Metropolis: I997), P. 13. For
her study, Frame drew on J. C. Lavater's Physiognomische Fradgmente (Leipzig,
I. BenjaminH. D. Buchloh, "Figuresof Authority,Ciphersof Regression:Notes 1775-78), which suggests that typology makes it possible "to differentiate the ele-
on the Returnof Representationin EuropeanPainting,"October 16 (spring 1981), mentary things: are sup- self and other, inside and outside, male and female. They
pp. 39-68; repr.in FrancisFrascinaandJonathanHarris,eds., Art in Modern Cul- posed to prevent the mixing of the spheres, to regulate forms of expression and
ture:An Anthologyof CriticalTexts(London, pp. 222-38. Buchlohtook aim spontaneity, and guarantee the 'balance' of the individual"; p. 13-
I992),
in particularat ItalianartistsSandroChia andFrancesco Clemente,and at Germans 24. Emil Peters, Menschengestalt und Charakter: Lehrhuch der praktischen Mensch-
GeorgBaselitz,J6rgImmendorf,andAnselmKiefer. enkenntnis (Konstanz, 1922), p. 70.

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